Love's Spiral
by callmebiles
Summary: Teen Wolf fanfic. Stiles/OC/Derek. NOT STEREK.
1. P R O L O G U E

She is just a girl. She is a girl with two best friends. Both of them are boys. Sure her mother probably wished differently. She does not. She has known these boys since birth. Almost. Basically. That is what they tell everyone. Not that many people ask. They were kind of the outsiders of Beacon Hill High. There are a few things that one would know from being best friends with two boys.

One: boys are disgusting. But then again, if you do not know that, you probably do not hang around boys enough. Her two best friends were always dirty and smelly. No matter what. They try to cover it up, of course. When they do, they use way too much cologne. Put both of them in a room together after they have sprayed themselves and you might just pass out.

Two: boys are rude. The boys burp. All of the time. They fart. Then they laugh about it. These two rarely hold the door open for her, unless she asks. They talk too loudly. Screaming at each other when she was the only thing that was between them. She would never pick a fight with either of them. They were too witty. One way more than the other. They will fight you until the next sun comes up.

Three: boys change. Their voices change. It was especially fun for her to witness that. Their voices cracked so much freshman year. Their attitudes change. Now, this is more of a generalization to all boys. These two boys have not changed a wink. They were still the same old boys with the same old funny attitudes. They changed their fashion sense. They went from superhero costumes and sweatpants to finally discovering a decent pair of jeans. After all of this, she found herself dealing with a completely different change with the boys. Well, boy. Either way things are changing for one. More than she thought possible.


	2. O N E

**A/N 10/23: Sorry for the notification about an update and there actually isn't one. I hate it when author's do that. There were just a few details that I needed to fix in this chapter. Little things really. Not really worth re-reading if you've already read it. I just needed to change if for future readers. Thanks :) 3**

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"Sheriff Stilinski?" Spencer's ears perked up. She wrapped a fallen strand of her strawberry blond hair behind her ear. She listened closer to hear her friend's dad downstairs. "What's that?" Spencer threw her magazine at her best friend, Stiles who was sitting at his desk with his headphones in. He jumped out of his chair, landing on the floor. Leave it to Stiles to overreact. Spencer laughed silently and rolled my eyes.

"What?!" He shouted. Spencer shushed him with a finger to her lips. He furrowed his brow. "What?" he whispered.

"Pick up the phone." He gave Spencer a confused look. She groaned, starting to get impatient. She sat up n Stiles' bed. "Pick. Up. The. Phone." She said slowly. "Your dad is all 'Sheriff Stilinski' on the phone." She mimicked his dad.

"Nice one, Spence." She smiled. He picked up the phone careful to be quiet on their end. Spencer grinned, just thinking about the adventure that they would go on next. Granted, it would probably get the two of them in trouble. But what was life without a little risk? Nothing. Exactly. All they had to do was wait for Stiles' dad to answer the phone all business-like and follow him to the next crime scene. Not that it happens in the little town of Beacon Hills often. Lately, though, there have been a few mountain lion attacks. Stiles, Scott and Spencer have been following them.

Spencer heard footsteps coming up the stairs taking her from her thoughts.

"Stiles!" She whispered. He turned around to face me. I looked at the door. His eyes widened as he fumbled to hang up the phone and go back to his computer. He ended up dropping the phone loudly onto the floor and barely making himself look busy on his computer before his dad opened the door. Spencer started playing with a loos string on her shirt since she had thrown her form of entertainment at Stiles.

"Hey, Spencer." The sheriff said, looking in her direction. She looked up from her shirt. "I did not hear you come in. you must have snuck by." Spencer laughed to herself. She actually had climbed in through Stiles' window. She got up to give him a quick hug.

"Sorry, Papa Stiles. You were at the table, looking kind of frustrated. I didn't want to bother you." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Never are you a bother." She laughed, nodding. "Stiles." The spaz turned from his computer and smiled at his dad.

"Dad? When did you get up here?" Stiles asked his father. He closed his computer and stood from his chair. Spencer rolled her eyes. As if that wasn't suspicious at all.

"Just now, boy. I have been having a small chat with Spencer." Stiles nodded, exaggeratedly. Subtle was obviously not in his dictionary. Spencer scratched the back of her neck, nervously. At this rate, they probably would get caught. "Are you on drugs, son?" Spencer laughed to herself.

"Drugs? What? Dad, come on. I'm sure you would know if I was." Stiles was getting nervous remembering he had taken at least 3 Adderall in the past hour. "You are the greatest sheriff Beacon Hills has ever had." He lightly punched his dad's shoulder. Spencer laughed at Stiles' dorkiness.

"All right…" Sheriff said slowly. Then he redirected his attention to Spencer, knowing she was more responsible than his son. "I just got a call from the station. I have got to take off."

"What is it this time?" Stiles asked. The sheriff turned back to his son for a quick second.

"Now, Stiles, you know that I can't tell you." Spencer nodded.

"I think that he's hoping that after a while you will just give in and tell him." Spencer explained.

"Exactly." Said Stiles. Spencer rolled her eyes.

"You were saying." She motioned for Stiles to back off.

"Well, since I am running off to the preserve, I'll probably be gone late. I'll leave some money on the counter so you guys can order pizza. Are you staying here tonight?"

"Dad, there's school tomorrow." Stiles informed him.

"You act like you don't want to spend time with me." Spencer pouted her lip.

"I don't mine. As long as there is no funny business between you two." Stiles coughed. She raised her eyebrows at him. He had a guilty look on his face. Good, she had frightened him.

"That will definitely not be a problem, Sheriff."

"I still feel like I should say it. I'll see you two in the morning. Make sure your parents know that you're staying."

"I will, sir." Spencer watched him leave. The two waited until they head the patrol car start and pulled out. Spencer walked over to Stiles and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Smooth, Stiles."

"Do you think you could have been any more obvious?" He winced as he rubbed his head in the spot where she had hit him.

"Yeah, I could have. But they we really would have been caught." Spencer stared at him for a second with one eyebrow raised, before reaching down to pick up her magazine. Her long strawberry hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned. Stiles coughed again. She stared at him for another moment before speaking.

"What was that?" he looked confused and simply shook his head. "You know, I worry about you all of the time."

"Good." He said quickly before he panicked. "I-it shows that you care." He said with a fake, pathetic look on his face. Spencer laughed at the boy.

"So what is the adventure tonight, Mr. Stilinski?" She asked, sitting back on his bed, trying to find her page in the magazine. He sat down in his chair and spun around to face her.

"Well, Miss Garner, it appears that a body has been found."

"Oh, that's not really exciting. We can't really do anything with that." She flipped the page on the magazine.

"You haven't heard the best part yet." He said, scooting his chair closer to his ed. She put the magazine to the side.

"There is more? Oh, please. Enlighten me." he nodded.

"I shall." He paused.

"Well?"

"I'm pausing for dramatic effect." Spencer reached up, grabbed a pillow, and hit Stiles with it. "Ow, fine okay. They only found half of the body." He said, plainly. "It wasn't even scary because you ruined the pause." I rolled my eyes.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Spencer asked, getting up.

"Uh, we order pizza?" She groaned.

"No I was thinking that we go off to the preserve and find the other half." She grabbed a hoodie from Stiles' closet.

"I like your idea better."

"I know. I'm brilliant."

"Can we get food though? I'm really hungry." Spencer sighed.

"Fine. On the way to get Scott. Let's go." He punched his fist in the air, grabbed his jacket off of the back of his chair and followed his friend out the door.

Stiles and Spencer arrived at Scott's house and Stiles jumped out of this Jeep. Spencer took her last bite from her burger and quickly followed. He jumped up and grabbed onto a low hanging roof.

"Stiles!" Spencer yelled, scared. He shushed her quickly. She groaned. "Stiles!" She whispered this time. "What in hell are you doing?! You could kill yourself."

"Spencer." He jumped down, landing right in front of his friend. "We are on a mission. We have got to be sneaky."

"Scott's mom isn't even home. Just use the front door! You'll end up scaring the crap out of him." He struck a pose that you might see in a Mission Impossible movie.

"Then it is a risk that I will have to take." His voice was raspy and dramatic. Spencer rolled her eyes, moving her arm in a way to tell him to continue. "Yes!" He said, just before he resumed climbing.

"Do not expect me to catch you when you fall." He laughed.

"Not even close. Spence, you couldn't catch a baseball if it rolled off of the roof." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're lucky that you are hanging from a roof, Stiles, or I would hit you."

"Thank God that I am so spontaneous."

"Is that what you call it?" He fake laughed. There was a creaking noise. Spencer quickly ducked behind a bush. "Stiles!" She whispered softly, but he didn't hear. The creaking happened again. Spencer started to shake nervously. "Stiles…" She said, biting her lip. Being alone in the dark scared her. She watched as he tried to move across the side of the house. Then he missed his mark and lost his grip. He screamed. "Stiles!" Spencer screamed, reaching out as if she could catch him. Thankfully, he moved his foot in a way to catch himself on the roof. However, he was hanging upside down. After he fell and caught himself, he didn't stop screaming. Spencer stood up all the way to see Scott on his porch holding a bat, ready to swing. She shook her head at the two boys. "Guys!" She yelled. Scott and Stiles stopped screaming. Scott looked between the two of his friends.

"Stiles? Spencer? What they hell are you two doing?!" Scott asked, lowering his bat.

"Boy Genius, over here, decided he wanted to play super spy." Spencer said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. Stiles pointed back to her without looking. She knew it was his way of telling her to mind her own business. "I told you that you would scare him." I smirked.

"You weren't answering your phone!" Stiles said, quickly. Spencer laughed when he heard his voice crack at the end.

"We tried calling and texting. Each time it went to voice mail."

"Why do you have a bat."

"I thought you were a predator." Scott said, slowly smirking. Spencer laughed loudly.

"Stiles? A predator?" Spencer laughed harder just repeating it herself.

"Woman!" Stiles said, pointing behind him again.

"Sorry, Stiles."

"Why would I be a predator? Oh—well—never mind. Look, I know its late, but you've got to hear this."

"Stiles, get down." Spencer said. Stiles held a waiting finger up to Scott before he flipped off of the roof. Spencer rolled her eyes as he tried to show off. "Anyway, Stiles and I were hanging out. The phone rang. Obviously, being the incredible ninja snoops that we are, we listened in. Then we heard him coming up the stairs, so Stiles was a spaz and dropped the phone. His dad came in and gave up the no funny business ta—" Stiles made the noise again. "What is that cough for?" Scott laughed. Spencer turned to him. "Did you hear that?"

"What cough?" Stiles asked, trying to act confused.

"The sound that you just made. You also made it when I bent down for my magazine." He coughed again. "There!" Scott laughed some more. "Judging by the fact that you are laughing I assume that you know what it is."

"That is the mysterious cough that he gets when he gets nervous in front of a pretty girl." Spencer furrowed her brow in confusion. Scott nodded. Her eyes widened as she realized something. She looked back at Stiles, mouth agape.

"How come I haven't ever heard of this before?" Stiles stuttered over his next words.

"Uh, um, this isn't what we came to tell him, is it?" Stiles laughed, nervously."

"Were you checking me out?" She asked.

"Look, my dad left twenty minutes ago."

"Are you going to ignore me now?"

"They are bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department."

"Yup, that is what you are going to do…" She rolled my eyes. He was being really childish. But then again, that was Stiles.

"Even the State Police."

"What for?" Scott asked.

"Two joggers found a body in the woods." Spencer responded to Scott's question.

"A dead body?"

"No, a body of water." Stiles said, sarcastically. Spencer pushed Stiles a little bit so that she could stand in front of Scott.

"Can you ever be straight up for once?" Stiles' games were getting old. We were running out of time.

"Can you not be such a nag?" Spencer rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Scott a dead body."

"Was it…murdered?"

"I'm not sure. No one knows. They only know that is was some twenty-something girl."

"So what are they looking for? The found the body. What more do they think that they could find on the preserve?"

"That, my friend, is the best part. They—" Stiles budged back into the conversation.

"Wait, wait! I wanna tell this part. You totally ruined it for me last time."

"I did not! You were the one making things was too dramatic."

'No! I was trying to make it sound scary."

"Same thing!"

"It is not!"

"Uh, huh. Just like with that stupid cough that you miraculously get. You can't just tell a girl that you are attracted to her. You have to go the long way about it. You make her think that you are weird so they won't even talk to you."

"Ow." He said dumbstruck. Spencer realized how mean that she had sounded.

"Oh, dang. Stiles, I'm sorry. That was pretty harsh." Spencer bit her lip. "You can tell him." He waited ten seconds before speaking.

They only found half." He said, quietly. Scott silently stood between Spencer and Stiles, looking back and forth between them, confused as to what just happened between the two.

"So, are we going or what?"


	3. T W O

**A/N: Changed a lot. Worth it to re-read. Added almost 400 words.**  
**NEW READERS: IT IS WISE NOT TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER UNTIL AFTER 10/22. I'LL BE FIXING THAT ONE AND GETTING IT UP AGAIN BY TOMORROW, BUT YOUR TIMELINE WILL BE A LITTLE OFF.**  
**REPEAT: NEW READERS DO NOT READ CHAPTER THREE UNTIL AFTER 10/22.**  
**Thanks.**

"Are we seriously doing this?" Scott asked his friends. He would not admit it to his friends but the boy was quite scared of what would happen. Spencer looked at him as if he were crazy. She agreed with him but she knew that Stiles really wanted to be out here. That, and she told him to answer the phone that got them there. She really couldn't turn back now when it was her doing that they were there.

"We're already out here." She stated. "Do you really want to go back now? We've driven all the way out here there really isn't much sense in going back." She climbed out of the back of Stiles' Jeep, careful not to trip over anything. Spencer wasn't the most graceful person. Nor did gravity ever agree with her. Stiles grabbed his flashlight, shining it out into the forest. He rolled his eyes to both of his friends.

"Scott, you're always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town. Well, here it is." Stiles slapped the back of Scott's shoulder and led the way deep into the trees.. Spencer was, honestly, excited about this adventure. She always knew that there was something about tonight that was keeping her on edge. She didn't know what was going to happen in the middle of the night in the depths of the woods. She did know that if something did happen, it wouldn't be good.

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow. I've showered and everything. I wasn't exactly planning on being out here."

"Oh, suck it up." Spencer laughed. "Because it isn't like you going to be doing something other than sitting on the bench." She smiled at her friend.

"Yeah, cause sitting is such a grueling effort. Not like we haven't been doing that all summer playing COD." Stiles joked.

"No," Scott said, rolling his eyes. "I'm laying this year. In fact, I'm going to make first line." Spencer laughed. "What? I will."

"Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream. Even though yours is completely unrealistic. A little bit pathetic, but hey, still a dream, right?" Spencer slapped the back of Stiles' head. Stiles stopped walking and looked at her wondering why she had hit him.

"Why did you do that, Spencer?" He rubbed at the spot where her had just was. The other two stopped in their places as well.

"'Cause you're being a jerk. At least he's making an effort to get out there on the field. Do you actually want to sit on the bench?"

"No! I try." Stiles defended himself.

"Really? That's a laugh. I seriously think that you're "trying" to keep that bench warm. That is the extent of your trying."

"What if Coach needs someone if somebody gets hurt? That's what I'm there for."

"I think Coach would put me in before you. Hell, Coach might even put in a squirrel before he puts you on the field." Stiles scoffed, taken aback. He knew that she was just playing around with him. That was how their relationship worked. They would pick on each other but they knew that they still were friends at the end of the day.

"If you two are done bickering like newly-weds…" Spencer looked from Stiles back to Scott and kept walking at her own pace in front of the boys. "Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Spencer stopped in her place, having the fact that there was only half of a girl's body out there finally sink in. Stiles didn't stop with his friends or look at either of them as he passed.

"Stiles!" Spencer called, trying to stop him from moving and give him an answer. She started to worry. There really was only half a body out there. Stiles turned around, facing the two.

"I didn't think about it."

"Stiles…" Spencer groaned. She wasn't just mad at Stiles. She was also mad at herself for not thinking clearly about coming out here. Why hadn't she thought not to go? Stiles noticed how worried she was when she started to chew on her nails. He backtracked, standing by her side. "Wh-what if he's still out there, Stiles? The killer? What if he's still on the preserve?" Stiles looked at her wishing that he could just lie to her and make her feel so much better. "What if he's watching us or the police, with your dad!?" Stiles put his hand on the top of her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"I didn't think about that either." Spencer sighed, nervously and ran her finger through her hair, attempting to pull it out of her face. Unfortunately, it just slid back down in front of her eyes.

"I can't believe I was talked into this. Stiles, we could die out here, just like that girl did. We could be cut in half." Stiles admitted to himself that he, again, hadn't thought about that either. He cursed himself for putting his friends in this kind of danger. Usually, it was just break-ins and robberies. Never an actual murder with an actual dead body. He swallowed.

"We should keep moving then. If there is someone out there, it is always best to keep moving. I'm just hoping whoever it is, doesn't know these woods as well as we do." Scott and Spencer stared at him in disbelief, but followed ten seconds later. Little did they know, up in a tree sat a dark figure. He was dressed all in black with black hair. His eyes shown in the moonlight.

Minutes later Scott was the one to break the silence. "Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one who is holding the flashlight, huh?" Scott spoke, completely out of breath. He leaned up against the tree and took and air shot from his inhaler that he always needed with him. Stiles noticed that he wasn't looking and grabbed Spencer's hand. She looked at him, surprised, and tried to pull away. When he held on tighter, she furrowed her brow.

"We'll be okay." He said to her, with all seriousness in his voice. "I – mean – come on. Have I really ever let anything bad happen to you on our adventures?" Spencer laughed, recalling a specific time. She nodded. "What?" Stiles hadn't expected that answer. "When?"

"When we were twelve. You were finally off grounding for our latest mishap. You took me to climb trees at the edge of the preserve. I fell and broke my arm." Stiles laughed at the memory that had occurred not very far from where they were standing now.

"Well, this time it's different. I'm older and wiser." He said striking a super hero-like pose, all while still holding her hand.

"Stiles, that was four years ago. Not much has changed. Only difference is we aren't tree climbing this time." Spencer looked up in the tree and swore she saw something move. She brushed it off thinking that it was just the wind on this breezy night. "Instead of a broken arm problem, we have a psycho killer problem." Stiles squeezed his and around hers.

"Spence, Whatever happens, or whoever is out there, they will have to go through me to get to you. I won't let anything happen to you this time."

"Stiles – "

"Trust me. We'll be fine. Just hold my hand. Don't let go for anything." Spencer nodded, holding his hand willingly now. She looked up at him, for he was almost half a foot taller than she was. Her heart was beating so fast she feared that he might hear it. He only smiled and ran his thumb across the back of her hand. She bit her lip. His heart was beating with just as much speed.

"Uh, guys?" They heard behind them. They turned to see Scott pointing past them. Spencer and Stiles turned to see lights searching through the woods. Stiles threw himself and Spencer to the ground. Scott followed.

"Shit!" Stiles whispered. He knew that his dad was part of that line-up. Stiles quickly thought of anything that they could do. Spencer turned her head towards him.

"Stiles…" he looked at her. "What now?" she said having all the confidence she had in him. It gave him the need to get out of here without getting caught. "We run. Zig-zag. Never run in a straight line. Run away from the lights." He looked to Scott. "Don't get caught." He said as he pulled himself up, then Spencer, still holding her hand. He took off running dragging Spencer along. She grabbed his hand tightly, fearing what would happen if their hands slipped.

"Stiles!" Scott called after him. Scott had tried to keep up with the two and stay together but he couldn't and lost them quickly. Spencer and Stiles ran through the woods trying to avoid his dad and the rest of the police force. The two heard dogs getting closer to them and tried to outrun them in the opposite direction. They failed, however, and found themselves having a bright light shined in their faces. The dog barked loudly, scaring Stiles, causing him to fall down and let go of Spencer's hand. She panicked not knowing what to do and put her hands in the air.

"Hold it right there!" The policeman shouted.

"Wait!" Spencer shouted to the man. "We're just kids. Not crazy, psycho killers." A grumble came from the Sheriff's throat as he walked up, recognizing the girl's voice.

"Hang on, hang on. These little delinquents are mine." Spencer sighed with relief, even though they had just been caught but the person that they really didn't want to be caught by.

"Hey, Papa Stiles." Spencer said, nervously, slowing lowering her hands. Stiles stood from the ground.

"Dad." Stiles brushed himself off. His jeans were no use though. He fell into a small mud pile leaving a stain on his butt. "How are you doing?"

"Do – do you two always listen in to all of my phone calls?" Stiles bit his lip.

"No." Spencer said. Sheriff Stilinski raised one eyebrow. Stiles sighed.

"Well, not the boring ones." The sheriff shook his head.

"Now. Where is the other one?" Stiles and Spencer looked at each other quickly. Stiles shook his head, only just barely, so Spencer could see. She turned back to the older man.

"The other what?" Spencer asked as if she had no clue.

"The other boy. Your usual partner in crime." Spencer ran out of ideas. There was too much going on for her to think on her toes. It was all up to Stiles to talk Scott out of this shenanigan.

"Who? Scott?" The sheriff nodded to his son. "Oh, Scott's home. He said that he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow. It's only me. and Spencer. In the woods. Alone." The sheriff looked between the two teens not believe a word they were saying.

"Scott!?" Sheriff yelled. Spencer jumped, not expecting him to yell in front of them. "Scott! Are you out there?" He sighed. "Alright, guys." Stiles' dad grabbed the top of his son's shoulder and the crook of Spencer's elbow. "Now, I'm going to walk the two of you back to your car." He said, looking at his son. "And then the three of us are going to have a conversation about a little something called invasion of privacy." Spencer rolled her eyes.

"Way to go, Stiles." Spencer joked. He smirked at his friend, trying to laugh at their situation.

"You, ma'am are the one who told me to answer the phone."

"Is that right?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, looking at Spencer, still dragging the two towards the car. "Well, in that case, the both of you are grounded. Two weeks." Spencer's jaw dropped.

"What?!" Spencer exclaimed. "You aren't even my – "

"You know, seeing as it was my phone call that get listened in on tonight, I can make my own rules. You stay in my house, under my roof, you go by my rules." Spencer groaned.

"What about my parents?" she asked. "They won't let me stay at your house for two weeks."

"Your parents will be told and I think that they'll agree with me." She sighed, defeated.

"I've never been grounded before." Stiles looked towards his friend with a guilty expression.

"Sorry, Spence." He said. Spencer scoffed at Stiles and turned away from him. She looked out at the preserve remembering that Scott was still out there.

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**EDIT A/N 10/22: So since I took out the ending of Stiles and Spencer back at his house, I'll be adding it back into the next chapter as well as another part. Be prepared for a large chapter next time. I'll have it posted sometime later today (10/22)**

**Sorry for all the gimpy chapters but I'm trying to change the way I go about writing. This won't happen with Chapter 4. I'll be sure to expand it before I post it.**

**Thank you for the patience my lovely readers. Believe me this story is only getting started.**

_A/N_

_So I know that it's going slow and that it's only got the two chapters but please...PLEASE, don't judge it just on that. I have HUGE plans for the later episodes of the season even the end of this first episode. _

_I like review and follows and such. I'm new to so I don't know really how it operates quite yet. _

_Thanks for reading :)_

**Tay**


	4. T H R E E

Stiles' father had talked at them for almost twenty minutes after he had caught them. Spencer felt so bad. She felt as if she had let the sheriff down. She was close to him. Stiles' had driven the two over to Spencer's house before heading back to Stiles'. If Spencer was going to be stuck at her friend's house for two weeks, she was going to need some clothes. Spencer told Stiles to stay in the car but he decided to follow anyway. Spencer groaned and rolled her eyes as she attempted to text Scott for the tenth time since they had left the preserve.

"Where are your parents?" He asked, noticing that they weren't in the house anywhere. Spencer shrugged.

"Probably the hospital." Stiles took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He had an episode before I left, so he probably hurt himself or something. I'm fine. I just wish she told me."

"Spencer…"

"Really, I'm fine. I'm over it. It happens a lot." Stiles nodded. She quickly grabbed a giant duffle bag of her things and led Stiles back out to his car. He drove quickly through the neighborhood, ignoring the speed limits. Everyone was out searching for the body. No one would pull him over. They arrived at Stiles' house five minutes later. Spencer slammed the door to Stiles' Jeep and swiftly walked into his house. Stiles stumbled out of his Jeep to quickly follow the girl. He wondered what was wrong but was afraid to ask. When Spencer got mad, it was nearly impossible to calm her down. The two stalked up to Stiles' room. Spencer threw her bag on the floor right next to the doorway. She then threw herself onto Stiles' bed, sprawling out on one side of the bed. She buried her face in one of the pillows. Stiles stood in the doorway completely unsure of what to do. Something inside him made him copy her, laying the same way on the other side. He was turned on his side to look at her. He was about to reach for her hand, but hesitated and pulled his hand back. What surprised him was Spencer turning on her side facing him. She grabbed his hand. He looked back and forth between her and their hands.

"I hope you don't mind." Spencer said. "When you held my hand in the woods, it made me feel good. Calmed me down and made me okay again. I wanted to try it out again." Stiles relaxed his hand in hers, doing as he did before and ran his thumb across the back of her hand.

"N – no. Of c – course not." He stuttered over his nervousness. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. Stiles sensed that there was something wrong other than her parents or being grounded. "What's wrong?"

"Scott. Stiles, there is a killer out there. It is kind of our fault it he doesn't make it back. Especially since we said he wasn't even out there with us."

"Scott will be fine. He can handle himself."

"He wasn't answering my texts. Have you ever known Scott not to text us back right away? It's not like he has much of a life or anything."

"I guess you're right."

"You're damn right, I am." He smiled fully at her silliness. She showed off a small smile.

"There you go." He said reaching his other hand to touch her cheek. She pulled back slightly, not wanting him to touch her face. She closed her eyes and her smile quickly disappeared. Stiles pursed his lips. "I'm sure that you are just over thinking it. Scott is probably home just like you. All tucked up in bed." Spencer nodded.

"What if he isn't? What if he's scared or hurt or dead?"

"He's not. He's our best friend. Remember our pact? You need to go first. That was you don't have to go through one day without us. We would hate it for you to be in that much pain." Stiles noticed her eyes starting to water. He quickly changed his expression. He reached up to dry her face of tears. She let him this time. "No, no. Spencer. Shit, I'm sorry. Pl – please don't cry."

"I'm not sad. I just – it's really sweet that you remember that."

"Sweet? Maybe. But also a little creepy. Considering that it is about the order of our deaths." Spencer laughed quietly. "Come here." Stiles opened his arms for her to crawl into. Spencer hesitated. "Oh, come on, Spence. I won't bite." She smiled. "Hard." She narrowed her eyes at him but scooted herself into his arms anyway. His arms wrapped tightly around her when she buried her face in his neck. She sighed peacefully. "Much better than just holding my hand, huh?" he whispered.

"Mmhmm." She said, sleepily. "Just don't let it go to your head."

"Oh, it's way too late for that." He smirked, joking. "I've got you wrapped around my finger."

"Do you?" she asked, softly. She smiled thinking that she probably was. She would always feel attached to Stiles in a way that she would do anything for him.

"Yeah. I've done most everything that a guy should. I've held your hand in a dangerous situation, knowing that you don't like the dark very much. I've comforted you over another boy. And, now, I've slept with you." He thought for a second, realizing what he had just said. "Well, not that kind of slept. The kind of slept where sleeping is actually involved." He took a deep breath, relaxing himself against the girl. "Spencer?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you like me?"

"Mmhmm." She breathed. His heart filled up. Thinking that she might actually really like him. "You're my best friend, Stiles." She said, mumbling into Stiles' neck. He got nervous when he noticed her lips brushing against his neck." He stuttered.

"G – good."

"Mmhmm. I love you, Stiles." He hesitated, his heart flutering.

"Love you, too, Spencer." He kissed her hair, watching as she drifted to sleep. He enjoyed being like this with her. He loved being close to her, feeling her breath on his neck and her heartbeat against his chest. He focused on the feeling until he slowly followed her to sleep.

Spencer woke up before Stiles' alarm went off. She thought of a way to get out of the bed without waking Stiles. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. He was sleeping soundly, leaning his head against hers. She smiled, her heart beating rapidly. She grabbed the arm that laid over her.

"Spencer…" Stiles sighed. Spencer froze and attempted to look up at him. She waited a minute and realized he was still sleeping, faintly smiling. She laughed to herself quietly. She lifted his arm off her body and silently rolled off of the bed. Stiles grabbed at the newly empty space. She handed him the extra pillow, which he hugged tightly. She grabbed her bag from by the door and went out into the hall down towards the bathroom. She dug through her bag trying to find her shower things.

"Good morning." She head a male voice say. She jumped, not expecting to run into the sheriff, and dropped her bag. The man reached down to pick it up and hand it to her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, Papa Stiles. You're fine. I wasn't paying much attention. He looked back towards Stiles' room.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked. "I'm sure Stiles kicked you off onto the floor. You can take my room if you'd like." He stumbled. Spencer laughed realizing where Stiles got his nervousness from.

"I slept perfectly. Stiles let me sleep on the other side of the bed." This made the sheriff nervous. He leaned back and forth on his legs.

"Uh, nothing happened right? Between you and Stiles? In the bed." Spencer laughed.

"Oh, no. No, no. Nothing happened. Sleeping was definitely a prominent action last night." A sigh of relief came from him. "I would tell you if we did, Pops." She walked past him, slapping his shoulder.

"Not sure that I would want to." Spencer showered quickly and changed into a clean pair of clothes. She decided to leave her hair down and let it air dry. When she came out she went back into Stiles' room. He had a good ten minutes to sleep. Spencer decided to replace the pillow and cuddle up to him again. She sighed, enjoying him wrapped around her. She got chills when she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.

Too soon Stiles' alarm went off, waking the boy. He groggily unwrapped his arm from Spencer and reached over to shut off the alarm. He rolled back to his place, wrapping himself tighter to Spencer's body. Two minutes passed, and he jumped back, pushing Spencer off of the bed.

"Ow!" Spencer stood, rubbing her butt.

"Oh, shit!" He said, trying to reach over the bed to comfort her. She brushed him off and sat on the bed.

"I'm sorry." Stiles started pacing the room. "I didn't mean to push you off. I was just surprised. By – by our – what we were – "

"Laying together?" Spencer said, obviously.

"Uh, more like cuddling. Spooning, as some would say." Spencer laughed as he paced.

"What are you pacing for? Is something wrong?"

"It's not a big deal, right?" She furrowed her brow. "Us, sleeping like that?" Spencer shook her head.

"No, I suppose not. You were comforting me. I liked it. You got my mind off of Scott and him being missing. It helped me out a lot." He stopped pacing.

"What?"

"I liked it. When you were holding me. Comforting me." He stared at her for a moment. He was confused. Yeah, it was normal for friends to sleep in the same bed. Sure, he really felt something about Spencer last night when things happened. Stiles got so much more out of it than just sleeping. The boy ran out of the room and into the bathroom. Spencer followed him out in the hall. "Stiles?" Spencer called through the door. "Are you alright?" He nodded and realized that she couldn't see him.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. I've got to shower." He quickly reached to turn on the shower. "Don't want to be late on the first day." He laughed nervously, leaning back against the bathroom door. Spencer bit her lip.

"Yeah." She said, disappointed. "I guess not." Stiles exhaled slowly. He had panicked. Spencer slowly walked down the stairs feeling utterly defeated. She went to the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal, silently. She then sat across from Sheriff Stilinski. She was so focused on her cereal thinking about what had just happened with Stiles, she didn't even notice the Sheriff watching her every move. He worried as he knew that she was lost in thought.

Stiles had completely freaked out. She knew that Stiles got weird when he was around girls or feeling things for girls. But she was his best friend. He was the one to pull her close first. To Spencer, it seemed as if he finally let her in last night. But this morning, he literally pushed her out and slammed the door in her face. She kind of understood. She only recently re-recognized her feelings for him. She had started to like him in the fifth grade, but that quickly faded when he aided in breaking her arm a year later. When she held his hand, it sent sparks through her body. He was being so sweet and protective. She doesn't remember him ever standing up for her like that. She liked it.

"I'm sorry for grounding you two." Sheriff blushed. Spencer took her attention from her thoughts. She smiled at him.

"Pops, it's really no big deal. We deserved it. I'm sorry for encouraging Stiles to eavesdrop on your call." He nodded. The two heard the shower shut off upstairs.

"I believe that I overreacted. You aren't even my kid. I can't actually ground you. You can leave if you want." Spencer laughed to herself.

"I call you Papa Stiles. You are just as much my father as my real dad is." Stiles started to come down stairs slowly, careful not to make the stairs creak. He stayed in a spot where he could head but they couldn't see him. "Besides I couldn't bail on Stiles." She smiled. Stiles smiled as well, glad that she could leave but she decided to stay.

"How is he? Your dad, I mean?" Spencer leaned back in her chair. Stiles knew that this was a sore subject for her. He wished that he could hold her hand.

"He's good. In a way. There are still many days that they end up staying at the hospital. They are there now. Or at least I think that's where they are. They weren't there where we went to get my stuff last night." He looked down at his plate.

"I hope he gets better." He said, quietly.

"Yeah…me too."

"You know that you are always welcome here. Stiles and I are here for you." Spencer recalled last night's events in her head. She smiled at the aging man. Her second father. This was especially good since her real father hardly ever recognized her. It tore her apart. When it did, she always came running here.

"I know." Stiles stood in his spot. He knew that he had to figure what was happening to him towards Spencer. He had to figure it out fast before he missed his chance.


	5. F O U R

"Scott!" Spencer shouted when she saw her friend. She ran to him and threw her arms around him careful not to hit him with her binder. "Thank God, you're okay."

"Spencer, I'm fine! Why are you hugging me?" Scott pulled away from his friend.

"The hell you are! I haven't been able to get ahold of you all night. That means you were either unable to text back or you were dead. And since you always have your phone, I resort to dead."

"I've been texting Stiles all morning…" She turned back to Stiles and hit his chest.

"You were texting him and you didn't tell me? You knew how insanely worried I was." Stiles brushed her off. All he really wanted to do was see Scott's new bite.

"Yeah, yeah. She was insanely worried." He said to Scott as if it wasn't important. Spencer scoffed. "Sorry. That was insensitive." He said, then smacked the back of his own head, so Spencer didn't have to herself. Spencer smiled. He moved his finger to Scott. "Alright. Let's see this thing." Scott lifted up his shirt revealing a bloody bandage on his side. Spencer gasped.

"Scott! What the hell is that?!" Stiles oohed. "You knew about this?!" Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't want to worry you?" Stiles tried to reach for it. Scott stepped back and pulled down his shirt.

"It was too dark to see much, but I think that a wolf bit me." Spencer laughed. "What?"

"A wolf bit you?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, or at least that's what I think. I definitely remember hearing a wolf howling."

"No, you didn't." Stiles stated, confidently.

"What do you mean? You weren't there. You don't know what I heard."

"I don't need to know what you heard. All I need to know is that California doesn't have wolves." Scot was confused.

"What?" Spencer rolled her eyes. It was her turn to help fill in the blanks.

"Wolves haven't inhabited California in, like sixty years."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Spencer and Stiles said in unison. The two looked at each other for a moment. Then Spencer suddenly became especially interested in what shoes she was wearing.

"There are no wolves in California." Stiles sighed, looking at Spencer. Scott looked at Stiles, who looked back at him. Scott pointed back and forth between the two. Stiles waved his arm to tell him to forget about it.

"Okay…" Scott said, slowly. "Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you definitely won't believe me when I say that I found the body. Well, the half of it."

"Are –are you kidding me?" Stiles asked. Spencer looked up, worried.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Well, I wish I wasn't." He answered Spencer's question. "It was disturbing. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."

"Oh, God, that is awesome." Spencer looked at him like he was insane. "I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that has happened in this town since…" Stiles noticed Lydia walking up to the group. "…since the birth of Lydia Martin." She then walked by without even noticing him. Spencer rolled her eyes angrily towards both Stiles and Lydia. "Hey, Lydia. You look…like you're gonna ignore me." Spencer tried to cover up her anger and hurt, but she couldn't. Stiles was so sweet to her and now he's still pining after Lydia. Spencer gripped her binder hard, until her knuckles turned white.

"Spencer?" She looked up at Scott. "Are you alright?" She quickly lightened her grip on the binder. She nodded, still hugging the binder to her chest. "Are you sure?" She looked at Stiles for only a second before turning and running off to their first class together. Scott hit Stiles' arm. "Man! What did you do?" Stiles flinched back.

"I don't know!" He said, defensively. "I don't know." He repeated, softly.

The three friend formed around Scott's locker after class. Stiles was trying to get Spencer to talk to him after he lied to her. Scott was making himself busy by watching the new girl, Allison. Scott dazed away, just staring at her.

"Spencer. Come on!" Spencer glared at Stiles. "What did I do?" Spencer rolled her eyes and turned to Scott.

"Scott?" She asked trying to get his attention. She followed his line of sight to find him watching the new girl. She smirked, realizing the situation. "So, the new girl, Alyssa – "

"Allison." Scott said, defiantly. He still watched the girl's movement.

"Right! Allison. She's kinda pretty, huh?"

"Yeah. She's beautiful." He said, like he was lost in a daydream. Spencer laughed. She watched as Lydia walked up to the girl as well as Jackson. Spencer groaned.

"She's only been here one period. How is she already being noticed by Lydia? I've known here since Pre-K and she still can't remember my name."

"Because she's hot." Spencer glared at Stiles for his comment. "What? It's fact. Beautiful people herd together."

"So, I'm not pretty enough for Lydia?" Stiles' eyes widened, when he realized he had just dug a hole for himself. Scott being the smart boy he is, took himself out of the conversation to focus on Allison again. "You know, it is that right there that made me walk away this morning. Now, you get to watch me do it again." Spencer turned and began to walk away.

"No, wait!" Stiles chased her. He grabbed her arm and turned her around in front of the Chemistry lab. "What did I do?"

"You just did it! Do you really forget that easily?" Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

"Kinda…" Spencer sighed angrily.

"You're calling Allison and Lydia hot, right in front of me. And Lydia is the greatest person alive."

"Yeah, so?"

"What about me, Stiles?" She looked up at him with her blue eyes brimming with tears. Stiles didn't understand.

"I don't – I honestly can say that I have no idea what you 're talking about." Spencer wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Last night you took care of me. You protected me. Whether or not we were ever in any real danger, you held my hand. Then you sat next to me to calm me down while I was worried about Scott." Stiles shook his head when he still didn't understand. She sighed. "It hurt when you pushed me away this morning." Stiles bit his lip.

"Spence, I didn't want to! I hate hurting you. I – I'm just confused."

"Why?" Stiles sighed, preparing in his head what he was going to say.

"I think that I got a lot more out of last night than I should have. Probably more than you did." He said, quickly, stumbling over words from his nervousness. Spencer smiled, her eyes lighting up. "What?" She shook her head, biting her lip. "Is that good?"

"Maybe." Stiles looked as if he'd missed something.

"Maybe?" Spencer nodded.

"Don't be confused. And quit acting as if I don't exist." She held out a hand for him to take. "Come on, let's go to class." Stiles hesitated. "Please?" Stiles couldn't help but cave in to those beautiful eyes. He smiled, taking her hand.

"Were you going to hang around at practice today?" Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

"I was thinking about hitting the pools." Stiles stood back surprised that she won't be at practice. "Don't give me that look. You guys have your sport. I need mine."

"Can't you go during free period?"

"No one is ever in the gyms at free period. I don't want to be there alone."

"I'll go with you!" Stiles said quickly. Spencer furrowed her brow at how excited he sounded. "I mean, I can time you. Or something."

"Really?" Spencer smiled. Stiles returned it and nodded. "That'd be great."

The coach blew his whistle and began yelling at his students to get on the field. Stiles and Scott were just getting on the field and putting their gear down.

"You can't play! If you play, I'll have no one to talk to on the bench." Stiles complained, following Scott to the field. "Are you really gonna do that to your best friend?"

"I can't sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season. I'm making first line. I'm sure you can find something to keep you entertained.

"Stiles!" The boys heard from the bleachers. Stiles turned around to see Spencer. His heart meted as he watched her smile and wave at him. He waved back.

"Dude?" Scott got his attention again. "What was that? This morning she didn't even want to look at you. Now she doesn't even notice me?" Stiles smiled.

"I think I had a breakthrough with her."

"That's great. So now what?"

"Now? Well, I think she wants me to ask her out."

Spencer saw Scott and Stiles geared up ready for practice. She was rather glad that she and Stiles got some swim practice in earlier so she could come to watch him play.

"Stiles!" She shouted, and waved. He turned to look at her and her heart nearly burst out of her chest. She smiled slightly embarrassed by her own heartbeat. Now that she's finally let herself admit her feelings for Stiles she can't seem to even think about him without her heartbeat speeding up and her palms sweating.

She sat down a couple of rows in front of Allison and Lydia.

"Who's that?" Spencer turned to see who she was talking about. She had gestured to Scott who was currently standing in the goal, probably trying to think of a way to get out of his current position. She knew that he was about to get pounded.

"Him?" Lydia questioned her new friend Allison. Allison nodded. Lydian tilted her head to the side. "I'm not sure who he is. Why?" Allison looked at him and shook her head.

"He's in my English class." The coach's whistle blew, making Scott double over with his hands over his ears. Spencer furrowed her brow, confused. The player started tossing the ball at Scott. The first one hit his face mask. Spencer flinched, thinking how happy that she was that t was Scott in the goal instead of Stiles. After that, Scott somehow managed to catch the rest of the shots thrown at him. "He seems like he's very good." Lydia looked at the boy suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah." She said, slowly. "Very good." Next it was Jackson's turn. He looked angry. How could this kid who had always sat on the bench be blocking all of these shots? Spencer along with the others who knew Jackson's anger was always a bad sign, were scared for Scott's life. However when Jackson tossed the ball Scott caught it just as easily as the others. Stile jumped off of the bench and cheered.

"That is my friend!" Spencer laughed. When the two girls behind her were done cheering, Spencer turned around to face them.

"Allison, right?" The girl looked down and nodded. "I'm Spencer. And that boy, in the goal. That's my best friend, Scott."


	6. F I V E

"Scott, why'd you have to drop your inhaler? I really don't feel safe being back here. Even in daylight." Stiles reached forward to grab his friend's hand. This reminded Spencer of something. "Plus, Stiles and I are supposed to be grounded."

"Live a little, Spence." Scott said. Spencer shot him a glare.

"Last time I 'lived a little' I ended up grounded for the first time. EVER. Excuse me if I don't want a longer sentence."

"Alright, look." Stiles said switching Spencer's hand to stand between the two. "We'll find the inhaler and the body, leave, and be back home before my dad is even off duty." The two didn't respond. "Now while we're searching, Scott can tell us where in hell he got those awesome lacrosse skills." Spencer sighed away her anger since she was interested as well.

"Seriously, Scott. How did you do that? I know you practiced this summer, but, damn."

"I don't know. I just seemed like I had all the time in the world to catch the bal. And that's not the only weird thing. I can, uh, hear things. Things far away. Oh, and I can smell things."

"Smell things?" Spencer asked.

"Like what?" Stiles questioned.

"Like the mint mojito gum that you have in your pocket." Scott told Stiles. He looked confused . He started patting his pockets trying to find the gum.

"I don't' even have any mint mojito –" He checked a pocket on the inside of his jacket and low and behold, there was a single piece of gum, that Spencer hadn't even noticed. She even wore that jacket last night. "So all of this started with that bite?" Scott nodded.

"Scott, what if this isn't all fun and games? I mean, it is totally cool that you can play lacrosse really well now, but something might be seriously wrong?"

"What? Like an infection? So my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock?"

"Well…" Spencer trailed off.

"Oh! Come on, Spence! I haven't even heard of something like that."

"You know what?" Spencer and Scott looked at their friend. "I think I have. It is a specific kind of infection." Spencer shot Scott a worried look.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I think it's called…lycanthropy." Spencer narrowed her eyes.

"Stiles!" She said, slapping his arm. She pulled away from her friend and went off to look at the inhaler on her own.

"What's that?" Scott asked. "Is that bad?"

"The worst." Stile joked. Spencer didn't find any humor in this at all. "But only once a month."

"Once a month?"

"Mmhmm. On the night of the full moon." Stiles howled and started laughing. Stiles howled and started laughing. Scott did the same thing as Spencer and pushed him off. "You said that you heard a wolf howling."

"There could seriously be something wrong with me!"

"I know! You're a werewolf!" Stiles faked a growl. "Okay, obviously, I'm kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, its 'cause Friday is a full moon." Scott stood in place trying to remember last night. He turned in place.

"No, I – I could have sworn this was it. This is where I saw the body. Then nearly got trampled by deer. I dropped my inhaler." He whined.

"Maybe the killer moved the body."

"If he did, I hope that he left my inhaler. They're like eighty bucks. I can't afford a new one." Stile nodded, and looked around. He began panicking.

"Scott? Where's Spencer?"

"I don't know. She ran off after you said 'lycanthropy.'"

"Well, where did she go?!" Stiles screamed.

"How should I know? You were the one promising to take care of her." The two froze when they heard a loud shrill scream.

"Spencer!" Sties screamed, moving his hand back on his short haired head.

"Yeah, I think it's called…lycanthropy."

"Stiles!" She said, slapping Stiles' arm. She pulled her hand away from her friend and went off in a different direction to find the inhaler.

How was that even funny to Stiles? There is no way that Scott could be a werewolf. Sure, he could see better and hear better but that was definitely jut the adrenaline from last night. He was stuck in the woods, ran over by deer, and bitten. It was definitely adrenaline.

Now there's Stiles. He held Spencer's hand, in front of Scott. Last night, he seemed to make sure that the other boy wasn't paying attention. Today he didn't care. If felt good to Spencer. She had small feelings that were noticeable to her, for her friend. Something that she never predicted was him showing some feelings back. He's always been chasing Lydia. He wouldn't have even noticed. Spencer's crush on him when he wa too focused on his own crush.

She wasn't sure of how long she had been walking. She didn't even know which direction she'd come from.

"Stiles?" She asked out loud, turning in her place. "Scott?" She instantly regretted walking away from her friends. She should have been smarter and remembered there was a killer out there. "Crap." She said. "Stiles!" She heard a twig snap and leaves rustle. "Scott? Stiles?" She peeked around a large tree. "Is that you?" Off in the distance, she heard deep growling. Her fright controlled her then. Pushing her feet to run in the opposite direction she was facing. She began to run out of breath. She leaned an arm against a tree and tried to control her breathing. She looked up to see a dark figure over her. She screamed.

"Spencer!" She heard Stiles shout. She breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly ran towards the direction of his voice. She only looked back once seeing him watch her run off.

"Stiles!" She ran until he finally came into sight. The two slowed down so not to crash each other to the ground. Spencer slammed herself into Stiles. They wrapped their arms around each other tightly.

"What the hell was that?!" Stiles asked, grabbing her tightly to make sure that she was real.

"There was a guy." She said, panicked and still out of breath. "He came from nowhere. Scared the shit out of me."

"Was it the killer?" Scott asked. Spencer buried her face in the crook of Stiles' neck.

"I don't know." Stiles felt a water drop on his neck. Stile stroked her hair, to calm her. He looked up to see a person standing here. He nudged Spencer to look at him. She unwrapped herself and held Stiles' hand tightly. Stiles look to her. She nodded. That was him.

"What are you doing here?" the guy said. "This is private property." Stiles shook his head.

"Well, I don't know where you get off scaring my girl – that's a friend." Stiles stumbled.

"Stiles!" Spencer elbowed him. "We didn't know. We're sorry." His face softened when he looked at her, only for a second. But Spencer saw it. Other than that brief second, the guy looked angry. Spencer wondered why. She knew it wasn't because they were on his property. He was in dark jeans and a leather jacket, covering up a black t-shirt. Spencer couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Yeah, we were just looking for something." The guy stared Scott down carefully watching him. "But…uh, forget it." Suddenly the guy threw something at him. Scott caught it without a problem. It was his inhaler. The guy turned to leave, looking at Spencer one last time, his face softening again. "Alright, come on. I gotta get to work." Stiles grabbed Spencer's hand. She didn't even remember pulling away.

"Guys, do you know who that was?" Scott shook his head. Spencer's eyes were still glued to the spot where the dark figure stood. "That was Derek Hale. You remember, right? He's only four years older than us."

"What am I remembering?"

"His family. They all burned to death in a fire like yet years ago." Spencer instantly felt bad for Derek. She remembered the day that his name came over the school's intercom.

"I wonder what he's doing back." Spencer said thoughtfully. Stiles squeezed her hand. He was worried that she found Derek attractive. Comparing him to Derek Hale was like comparing Robin to Batman. Robin, pre-badass Nightwing status. He pulled on her arm slightly. She finally turned to look at him.

"Come on." He tilted his head back towards the car. Spencer showed a small smile and nodded.

Stiles drove Scott back to his bike. When he got out, Spencer would normally move up to the front next to Stiles. But when he turned to help her up, she only sat staring out the small backseat window. He knew she was probably thinking about Derek and it nearly broke his heart.

"Spence." He said. She turned to face him slowly. The thoughts cleared from her head.

"Huh?" He held out his hand and gestured for her to move up front. She took his hand, using it as a balance as she climbed over the seat. She still stared out the window as Stiles drove home. He kept looking from the road back to her. When they arrived home, they didn't see the sheriff cruiser in the driveway.

"Dad's not home. You hungry? We can order pizza. Get your favorite? Pepperoni and bacon." She shook her head and opened the door. She reached to grab her bag from the back. It was heavier than she thought and she couldn't lift it. Stiles came over and grabbed the strap. "I got it." He aid. She wouldn't look at him as she just turned to walk into the house. She was probably lost in thought. He followed her into the kitchen to the table. He set her bag down and she dug in it to find her homework. Stiles shook his head. "Spencer." He put his hand on hers to stop her. She looked up at him. "What's going on? I'm feeling really out of the loop." He laughed.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"What about?"

"I remember him." Tiles looked confused. "Derek. I remember Derek."

"How can you? You were like seven. He wasn't even in our grade."

"I remember his name over the intercom. I remember we were going to art class when I saw him by the office, crying silently. He was trying to hide it though."

"What?"

"I asked him why he was crying. And I told him not to cry. He didn't respond but he wiped his tears. He just looked at me. I can't believe that I forgot about that."

"Okay. So this is why you're out of it?"

"I guess, I didn't put it together until now what he was crying over. I didn't think it was that serious." She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, you and I have only lost one parent. Think about losing everyone." She bit her lip.

"You haven't lost your dad."

"He doesn't even know who I am. There's no way to fix that. He's not getting better." Stile squeezed her hand. "I'm fine with it. He doesn't know me as I am now." Stile thought for a moment about his next words.

"So, Derek. Is he…uh, hot?" Spencer furrowed her brow and smiled.

"Hot?" Spencer laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"Attractive. Does he look good?"

"Stiles, you're not gay."

"Not exactly." He said, warily.

"What are you talking about?"

"If you think that he's 'cute,' my next question may be a little unnecessary." He was nervous again.

"What?"

"The party. Jackson's party. Do you want to go?" Spencer smiled.

"Yeah, sure. Is Scott coming?" Stiles rubbed the back of his head and breathed a laugh.

"No. Well, yes he's going. But that's not what I'm saying. I mean, do you want to go with me?" he looked up from his tilted head, hopefully. "As a date." Spencer tried to hide her excitement, but Stiles saw her eyes light up brightly. Even though he saw this earlier it had seemed like days since he'd seen her smile.

"Really?" She questioned anyway. "This won't ruin our friendship if it doesn't work?"

"Spencer, I'm not saying we run off, get married and divorce in a year." Spencer laughed. "It's one date. If it goes well, we'll go from there." Spencer smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Why not? Let's do it." Stiles laughed nervously, with a smile.

"Great. Good. Yeah. You and me. On a date." He smiled.

"Yeah. It will be fun."

"Well, it is the full moon and all." He joked about Scott's fake diagnosis. "Scott could go a little wild."

"Ha ha." Spencer fake laughed. "Alright, come on, Batman. Homework time." Stiles' face looked shocked.

"Batman?"

"Eh, why not? You can protect me from the dark things of the night. And Scott." She winked making Stiles smile.

He paced his burnt house angry for letting himself show his weakness. With Laura gone now, it was like that day all those years ago. When a little girl who didn't even know him told him that everything will be okay and to stop crying. He had and hadn't cried since a little red-headed girl with too many freckles to count. She didn't' even know his name.

Now that she was grown, and he saw her. Derek felt some strange attachment to her. A need to keep her safe. It almost scared him. It was just a weakness that he couldn't acknowledge. She probably didn't remember him anyway.

* * *

**A/N: Here's just a little bit of Derek. Definitely more to come. I love writing about Derek. It's hard to decide who i like more. Derek or Stiles? That's why I have no idea where this story is going. I'm telling you guys right now that I have NO idea who she's ending up with.**

**Has anyone heard the new facts about TW3? God, I'm so excited. I can't wait. Filming starts 12/3! xD I literally fan girl screamed.**

**Oh, P.S. I love Jeff Davis! :)**

**Thanks for reading.**

**I love reviews. :)**


	7. S I X

Spencer sat on the bleachers with Allison and Lydia. Lydia was not happy with Allison's new friend. Being around Spencer was making her feel bad all over again, which drove her on edge. Allison and Spencer didn't seem to notice Lydia's disgust. Allison had just informed Spencer of her date with Scott.

"At Jackson's party?" Spencer asked. Allison nodded. "That's my date with Stiles. Gosh, are those boys completely unoriginal or what?"

"Scott!" Spencer perked up at the sound of Stiles' voice. How did he always manage to have her attention? "Scott! Wait up!" Stiles had caught up with Scott. He didn't even stop preparing himself for his time on the field. Stiles spoke in a hushed tone. Scott brushed him off, running on to the "Wait no! Scott! You're not gonna believe what the animal was!" Spencer didn't catch what he said next. She shook it off and said to herself that she'd find out what it was later.

The players rounded about the coach. The boys played around on the field. Scott was as serious as ever. Stiles didn't even play. He sat on the bench. Spencer wished she was next to him. She was about to get up when Allison's choice stopped her from going. She sighed.

"So, tonight." Allison said. "The three of us should gather together at my house to get ready." Spencer stiffed.

"Like a girl thing?" Allison laughed. "I'm not so sure."

"Oh, come on. Can't you go like an hour without seeing Stiles or Scott?"

"I've had plenty of days without my boys."

"Calling them 'your boys' is proof enough that you need more friends. Please, Spencer. I'd really like to prove to my parents that I actually have friends." Spencer laughed. Allison turned to Lydia. "Lydia?"

"I already know what I'm wearing. I'll come, though. She's going to need [i]a lot[/i] of help." Lydia pointed around Allison to Spencer. Spencer just rolled her eyes and ignored her.

"Spencer?"

"Alright." Spencer gave in. "You have to go easy on me. I've never done the whole girl thing." Spencer said, shyly.

"That's not surprising." Lydia scoffed. She immediately regretted her comment. She looked over at Spencer, who just had her hands in her lap. Spencer just breathed deeply, trying to avoid the drama. She looked up just in time to see Scott flipping over another player and throwing the ball into the goal.

"Holy shit!" Spencer exclaimed, jumping up to cheer for him.

"McCall! Get over here!" Spencer and the rest of the girls sat back down. The coach sounded angry.

"Oh, no." Spencer whispered.

"What in God's name was that? This is a lacrosse field. What? Are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"

"No, Coach." He said, confused.

"What the hell was that?" Scott shifted, nervously.

"I don't know. I – just trying to make the shot."

"Yeah. Well, you made the shot. And guess what. You're startin' buddy. You made first line." Spencer, Stiles and Allison all cheered for him. Allison hugged Spencer, who hesitated at first, but hugged back anyway.

"You guys should a little after practice." Allison spoke as the girls sat down. "Spencer can go home, get some cute outfits, and bring them to my house. Lydia and I can help you choose."

"Okay. I wanted to hang out with Stiles for a little bit anyway." Allison rolled her eyes.

"It's like you can't go two seconds without him." Spencer shrugged.

"He's not just my date for tonight, Allison. He's my best friend. None of the other stuff really matters."

Stiles and Spencer were in Stiles' room Stiles was at the computer and Spencer was rifling through her duffel bag for something to bring to Allison's. She groaned. She really didn't have anything that she hadn't worn before. Definitely nothing that would blow Stiles away. She sighed, telling herself that she would just bring her whole duffel bag

She walked up behind Stiles and put her hands on the back of his chair. He jumped.

"What are you reading?" She asked, trying to read over his shoulder. He quickly changed the tab on his browser and looked behind him to her.

"Nothing." He said quickly. Spencer furrowed her brow.

"Okay…" she said, a little suspicious, but she dropped it. "At practice, you were talking to Scott about something. What was it?"

"Nothing, really. I was just telling him that Dad found hairs on the body that were animal."

"So do they have any idea what it was?"

"They keep saying a mountain lion, but I'm not sure." He said, narrowing his eyes to think.

"Well, what do you think?" Spencer asked. She was actually curious as to what he thought. Usually she didn't care much because his ideas were usually other-worldly.

"I'm not really sure."

"Do you think that it is a person? I mean, I really don't think that an animal could have cut a person in half cleanly like that."

"I just don't know much anymore." He said, shaking his head. He was frustrated with this wolf situation. He knew Scott didn't believe in it. He felt that it was real though. "So, what are you wearing tonight?" He instantly turned his confusion to show happiness towards his date tonight.

"Why?"

"Well, I want to make sure that we don't wear the same thing." He smiled, big. Spencer laughed at him.

"Actually, I'm not sure yet. Allison invited me to hang out and get ready over there. At her house. Can you drive me over there in a bit?"

"You're gonna hang out with a girl?" Stiles joked, "Isn't that a little dangerous?" Spencer laughed again.

"Probably. But I said that I would go. You can just pick me up in an hour there."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Stiles nodded. "I've just got to talk to Scott about something. He should be here soon." He said, really unsure about whether or not he'd be here.

"Thanks." She hugged him. He inhaled the smell of her perfume and nearly fainted. "I need to shower anyway." Spencer grabbed a pair of sweats from her duffel bag thinking that she was going to change at Allison's anyway. She opened Stiles' door to see Scott there. Stiles stood up and rushed over.

"Hey, Spencer." He said with a smile on his face.

"No, 'Hey, Spencer.'" Stiles grabbed Scott's shirt and pulled him in the room. "Get in. you gotta see this thing." Spencer shook her head and continued onto the bathroom. "I've was reading up since practice – websites, books. All this information.

"How much Adderall have you had today?"

"A lot. But that doesn't matter." Stiles admitted, frustrated. "Okay? Just listen."

"Oh! Is this about the body? Did you dad find out who did it?" Stiles grumbled.

"No, they're still questioning people, even Derek Hale."

"The guy from the woods the other day?"

'Yeah! Yes." Stiles was near breaking point now. "But that's not it, okay?"

"What then?"

"Remember the joke from the other day? Well, there's a good chance that it's not a joke anymore. The wolf – the bite in the woods. I started doing all of this reading." Stiles was rushed he knew he had to get a lot of information out before Spencer was done in the shower. "Do you even know why a wolf howls?" Scott was confused.

"Should I?"

"It's a signal, okay? When a wolf's alone it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling that means other wolves could have been nearby. I mean, maybe even a whole pack of 'em."

"A whole pack of wolves?"

"No…" Stiles hesitated. "Werewolves." Scott scoffed.

"Are you seriously wasting my time with this? You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour." Stiles rolled his eyes and brushed that comment off.

"I saw you on the field today, Scott. Okay. It was completely impossible. Amazing, but impossible."

"I made a good shot."

"No, you made an incredible shot. I mean…the way you moved. Your speed, your reflexes. You [i]flipped over a person.[/i] People can't just suddenly do that overnight. I'm sure you didn't take gymnastics or I would have teased you about it. And there's the vision and the senses. Don't even think I didn't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore!"

"Okay! Dude, I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow." Stiles' eyes widened.

"Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon's tonight! Don't you get it!?"

"What are you trying to do? I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it? Stiles sighed and sat in his chair.

"I'm not trying to ruin anything. I'm trying to help. You're cursed, Scott" He just about gave up. "You know, and it's not just that the moon will cause you to physically change. It just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak."

"Bloodlust?"

"Yeah, your urge to kill." Scott groaned.

"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles." Stiles grabbed a book and flipped to a bookmarked page.

"You've got to hear this. 'The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse.' Alright. I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You've gotta cancel this date. I'm calling her right now." Stiles went to Scott's bag. He dug through it to find his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked.

"I'm cancelling the date." This got Scott mad. He chased after Stiles. "No! Give it to me!" Stiles handed him the phone when Scott pinned him against the wall. Spencer opened the door and witnessed what was happening.

"Scott?" Scott's angry eyes didn't leave Stiles. She jogged quickly to the boys against the wall. "What the hell, Scott." She put her hands on him to push him off. "Let him go!" She yelled. Scott released a hand from Stiles and grabbed one of Spencer's wrists. "Ow, Scott! Let go!"

"Scott! Scott, let Spencer go! She's not a part of this." Scott's grip tightened on both Stiles and Spencer. Spencer cringed. "Scott, I swear to God!" Stiles said through his teeth. "Let her go." Spencer reached across with her other hand and slapped his face. Scott seemed to snap back into reality. He dropped both of his friends.

"I – I gotta go get ready for that party." He grabbed his bag and hurried to the door. He looked back for a second. "I'm sorry." The two waited until they heard the front door close. Stiles immediately picked up Spencer's hand.

"God, are you okay?" She pulled her arm away, hiding a new bruise that she could feel forming.

"I'm fine. You okay?" He nodded. "You gonna tell me what happened or is it a guy thing?" Stiles waved a hand in front of him.

"It's a guy thing. I just took it too far." Spencer nodded.

"That's not exactly surprising." Stiles sighed, internally. He knew she'd believe that and let it go.

"Come on. Let's go to Allison's" She nodded. Stiles grabbed her duffle bag and the two went down to the car.

"Allison! Your friend is here! Mrs. Argent called up the stairs. "Come on in, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Argent." Spencer got a good look at her. She had short red hair. Behind her smile, thought, her eyes looked evil. Allison appeared behind a railing on the second floor.

"Spencer! Hey, come up!" Spencer nodded and raced up the stairs. "Thanks, mom!" Allison called as she dragged Spencer to her room. Lydia was already waiting on the bed. Spencer threw her duffel down next to the other strawberry blonde.

"I've been through this bag a million times and found nothing that would have blowing away capabilities." Allison dug through to find out for herself.

"What about this?" Allison pulled out a red sweated. "Just pair it with a tank top or something." Lydia laughed. "What's so funny?" Lydia shook her hand and stood up in front of Spencer.

"Honey, you have red hair. Let's not help you look like a tomato." Lydia let out a breath. "Lucky for you, I decided to be nice and help you out."

"How are you going to help me?" Spencer asked her.

"I feel bad for you, Spencer. You know absolutely nothing of girl behavior. Not to mention your father, but…" She didn't have to say anymore to make Spencer feel awful for coming. She never really talked about it. She hadn't even told Allison. She hadn't planned on doing that for a while.

"Lydia, what are you getting at?" Spencer asked, grimly.

"I brought you something." She turned to dig in her bag. "Don't think anything of it. It's a little too ninth grade for my taste, so I was planning on donating it anyway." She pulled out a golden yellow dress with ruffles. Spencer forced herself not to crunch her nose in disgust.

"A dress?" Allison looked to Spencer.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." She said.

"Well, I'm not so sure. I'm not really comfortable in a dress. And it is only a party."

"You haven't ever worn a dress have you?" Lydia asked, pursing her lips. Spencer shifted nervously.

"Not since my mom stopped dressing me… I'm not comfortable in them." Lydia narrowed her eyes.

"Well, you will now. I think that you will rock this." Spencer was shocked. Did Lydia actually compliment her? "So you go to the bathroom. Change into that and come back. We'll tell you how awesome you look." Lydia smiled. Spencer was still lost from Lydia complimenting her.

"It's out this room and it's the next door to the left." Allison informed Spencer. She pushed her feet forward, and made her way to the bathroom. Spencer quickly changed, and checked herself out in the mirror. She played with the hem of the dress, hoping that there was more to it and it was only hidden. She sighed when it didn't get longer. She nearly stumbled out of the bathroom. She slowly walked back to Allison's room, and shy walked into it. She looked up from her bangs. Allison's mouth was open in shock and Lydia had a winning smirk on her face.

"Oh, my Gosh!" Allison announced. "You look amazing." Spencer blushed.

"I'm a genius." Lydia bragged.

"Really?" Spencer asked. "Is it that great?" Allison and Lydia both nodded. The two moved her in front of the mirror at Allison's desk. Lydia started pulling at Spencer's hair, looking at her through the mirror. She took a closer look at her and noticed a faint purple on her wrist. Spencer caught her staring at it and quickly covered it up. "Uh, can I wear a hoodie?"

"Oh, no." Lydia said, secretly worried. "You can't wear a dress like that and cover it up with a hoodie from your boyfriend's closet."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Spencer defended. She bit her lip and let it go. "So, what am I supposed to wear?"

"Okay…" Allison skipped to her closet and pulled on a hanger. She came back over to the other two girls. "So, here." She held out a black sweater to Spencer, who shrugged it on. She pulled the sleeves as far over the bruises as she could.

"Perfect." Lydia said, showing Spencer a genuine smile. "Spencer. I think you and I should be friends." Spence furrowed her brow. [b][i]Again.[/b][/i] She thought. "As long as you let me dress you. And as a special treat, you can have the clothes I was going to give away." Spencer's jaw dropped. She shook her head.

"No, Lydia. I can't – "

"Too late. I've already hired some people to move the clothes to your house."

"You hired people? Exactly how many clothes are you giving to me?"

"My entire ninth grade wardrobe?" She said as if it was obvious. "I had to make room for this year." Spencer sighed, accepting it. "Think of it as an 'I'm sorry' gift." Lydia said, brushing it off. Spencer bit her lip. Allison, between the two, was absolutely confused. Lydia didn't let her positivity falter. Spencer recalled ten years ago, when things went south for her dad. Spencer didn't know what was going on with him and she really needed her best friend. But when her dad's condition got worse, Lydia quit on her, not knowing what to do. Lydia had changed. And Spencer was glad to have her friend back.

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A/N: YAY! Chapter Six! And you guys are insanely lucky because this chapter got away from me and is about a million words. Anyway, I hope you guys love it and leave reviews. But they aren't necessary.

If it completely annoys you how closely I am following the story line, I'm sorry. I'm sure it won't always be like this, because I have a lot of my own ideas that stray from the real story.

Love you guys, thanks for reading. THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS AS WELL!


	8. S E V E N

Jackson had already come to get Lydia. He didn't want to because his party had already started, but she insisted. Allison and Spencer were left to wait for Scott and Stiles. There was an awkward silence between the two, and Spencer knew what was next. She sighed.

"My dad was in an accident. I don't know exactly what happened. I didn't ask. But he lost a good part of his memory. So he doesn't know who I am." She breathed deeply. "Whenever I slip up and accidently call him dad, he starts throwing these fits where he'll hurt me or my mom. Even himself. So I leave and got to Stiles' or Scott's." Allison looked at Spencer with a sympathetic look on her face.

"That's why you're with them so much." Allison said, realizing.

"My mom is so busy keeping my dad okay, that she doesn't worry about me much anymore. Stiles' dad and Scott's mom have always told her that they're there for me. That makes Scott and Stiles my family." Spencer twiddled her thumbs. "I'm not there much with my mom. Our relationship kinda went down after elementary school. When I took care of myself for the most part. I don't like stressing my dad out anyway."

"Well if you need to get away from _your boys_," she teased, "you're welcome here." She smiled and put an arm around Spencer's shoulders. Spencer returned the smile and leaned into her new friend's hug. "How did Lydia know about that? It doesn't seem like you tell many people that." Spencer chucked a laugh.

"No, I don't. But that, my dead, is a story I'll save for another day." The doorbell rang, followed by a knock on the door. Allison went to her window to see what car it was.

"It's a Jeep." She said.

"That would be me." Spencer stood from Allison's bed.

"Oh, no. No. you wait. I will go and get the door. You need to make you're grand entrance." Spencer groaned, but agreed. "I'll see you downstairs." Allison winked as she ran to get the door. Spencer stood in front of the mirror. She looked different. She felt different. She hoped that Stiles liked how she looked. She tried to pull the dress down one more time to no avail. Thankfully, Lydia had let her wear her sneakers and a pair of black leggings. In exchange, Spencer had to let Lydia curl her hair. Spencer agreed saying that she'd be more comfortable in sneakers and leggings. "Spencer!" Allison called from downstairs. Her heart fluttered with nerves. She began to feel a little self-conscious. What would Stiles think? Would he hate it? She took a deep breath.

"Now or never." She said to herself. She grabbed her duffel bag and walked from the room slowly. She kept her head up and didn't look at her feet. Lydia had told her not to. She said walk with confidence. She looked at Stiles as she walked down the stairs. Stiles eyes were wide and his jaw was practically on the floor. Spencer smiled and automatically felt comfortable in what she was wearing.

"Holy sh – " Stiles started. He stopped after Allison elbowed him. Spencer finished the stairs and stood in front of Stiles. Their eyes locked and didn't turn away. "Let me get your bag." He said nervously. Spencer held out her bag and he took it. "Spencer, you look-" He trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Amazing. Doesn't she look amazing, Stiles?" Allison finished for him.

"Amazing. Gorgeous. Beautiful. I can't decide." He stuttered. Spencer smiled and blushed.

"Thanks." She looked to Allison who smiled. Then turned her head back to Stiles. "Are you ready to go? Unless Allison wants us to wait with her."

"No, no! You can go! Go. I'll see you there." Allison winked to her new friend. Stiles and Spencer walked out the door and to the car. "Make good choices!" Allison called after them. Spencer laughed. Stiles opened the passenger side door for her.

"Wow, Stiles. If I knew that you were going to open doors for me, I would have taken initiative and asked _you_ out years ago." Stiles blushed. "Your dad taught your right." Stiles nodded.

"He did, didn't he?" Spencer climbed into the car. Stiles ran around to the other side of his Jeep, threw Spencer's bag in and climbed in himself. He hesitated before starting up the car. He was worried. Tonight was the full moon and if his hunch about Scott was true, he didn't know what to expect. And he felt bad for not telling Spencer anything about it. She still think its only a joke.

Spencer felt nervous for her own reasons. She didn't know how to act around Stiles now that they were on a date. Granted they were going to a party. But they were going to a party surrounded by horny, sweaty teenagers. Hopefully this ended up feeling like a date.

It was an hour after Spencer and Stiles got to the party. The two had been dancing to the music the whole time. They were both so nervous about the limited space between them at first, but after three songs, the two were finally comfortable with the situation. Spencer had her hands tied behind Stiles' neck as the two moved to the loud music. It wasn't until a slower song came on that things got awkward again.

"Let's go get a drink." Spencer said, turning to go. Stiles grabbed her arm, gently to stop her.

"No. Dance with me." Spencer bit her lip. "Come on. This is the date-est part of our very first date. We have to do something cute-like." Spencer smiled. "Pease, dance with me, Spencer." She nodded. He pulled her toward him softly, by the arm he held. He, then snaked the arm up around his neck, where Spencer brought the other one to tie them together. Stiles' hands cautiously moved down to her waist. The two swayed side to side in time with the song. Both their hearts beating quickly at the intimate moment. Spencer leaned her head on the top of Stiles' shoulder. When the song ended, the two didn't know what to do. They both backed away from each other just a little bit.

"Um, I'll go get you hat drink now." Stiles said. Spencer nodded as he rushed off into the house to find a drink. He left Spencer on the dance floor. She decided to move to a back corner away from the craziness. She pushed her was through the crowd, ending up at the very back of the yard. She almost bumped into a tall figure. Her heart raced when her mind put together who it was.

"Derek." She breathed. He tried showing a small smile to act normally.

"You were the girl from the woods with the inhaler boy."

"Yeah, Scott. He's inhaler boy." She laughed quietly.

"Scott. Hmm." He thought for a moment. "And you?"

"Spencer." She didn't know why she was still talking and responding to him. He was questioned about killing that girl. But either way, she didn't want to stop talking.

"Spencer." He repeated. She shuddered at the sound of him saying her name. "It's nice."

"Thanks." She widened her already blatant smile. How long had she been smile? "Uh, what are you doing here?" She asked, begging to keep the conversation going. He seemed to struggle for an answer.

"I – uh, a friend. Dragged me along." Spencer nodded.

"You have friends?" Derek tilted his head to the side with a slight smirk. Spencer's eyes widened when she realized what she just asked. "Oh!" she slapped her forehead. "That is _not_ what I meant. I – just – " Derek interrupted her.

"Hey, it's fine." He said, calming her with a hand on her upper arm. She looked at his hand when her heart jumped. He took his hand off when she looked to him.

"It's just – that day in the woods, you looked so…" she searched in her mind for the right word, "alone." Derek's face hardened instantly. She finally saw the face he showed Scott and Stiles the other day. "I – "

"Spencer?!" Stiles shouted over the music. He sounded urgent and scared. Spencer bit her lip towards Derek and looked up at him through her bangs. She sighed and turned to the crowd. She made her way through the crowd once more until she found Stiles. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, with a hand in her hair.

"God, Spencer. Where were you?"

"I was – " she turned to where Derek stood only to find that he wasn't there. She stumbled. "I just wanted to get away from all the people." She had no idea why she didn't tell him about Derek. But she didn't linger on it. "I'm sorry. I guess I should have told you." She said, slowly, a little unsure as to why he was freaking out.

"Yes. No!" He changed his mind quickly. Spencer jumped when he shouted. "No, I just couldn't find you. I thought you were drooling over some other guy." Spencer laughed, nervously as Derek popped back in her head. "Anyway. I think I saw Scott back there. He didn't look so good. We should probably go help him out." Spencer shook her head as one hand found her new bruise automatically holding it.

"He brought his own car. Can't he just get himself home?"

"Look, I know you're still mad about the…" he pointed to her wrist, "yeah. But I really think he needs us this time. Like a "no matter what" situation." Spencer groaned and rolled her eyes.

"It feels like we only just got here." Spencer complained as Stiles rushed her from the house by her unbruised arm.

"I know. But I'll make it up to you. I promise." She nodded. When they were out of the house, they saw Scott speeding off in his mom's car, leaving Allison. "We need to get to Scott."

"What about Allison? We can just leave her here alone. Isn't she out responsibility now anyway?" Stiles groaned.

"We can't take her. Her house is completely out of the way." Spencer sighed, unsure of what to do. She looked around, trying to remember who she'd seen.

"Derek, where are you?" She whispered. Stiles couldn't hear her. As she turned to the house, she saw a figure sneak around from the corner. She furrowed her brow, confused, but sighed a laugh anyway. "Stiles, I'll be right back." She walked to the house.

"Spencer!" He called after her. "But Scott." She changed to a swift job now.

"I'll be right back." She stressed again. She moved around the corner, almost running into Derek. "Derek!" She said, just like earlier.

"Spencer." He said with no change in one.

"That was really weird. It's like you knew I was looking for you." He nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "How did you know?"

"Let's call it a hunch. Did you need something?" He asked, even though he had overheard and already knew.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I always seem to speak without thinking when I'm nervous."

"Nervous?" He heard jumped when he took a step towards her.

"Yeah, but it's nothing." She said, remembering she was technically still on her date with Stiles. "Do you think _your friend_ would mind completely if you bailed? I was wondering if you could bring a friend home. My friend, Scott, inhaler boy and her date, got sick. He had to go and we're headed there now, but her house is out of the way from his. And there's a best friend, no matter what thing – "

"Spencer." He said, calming her with his two hands on each of her shoulders. "Spencer. It's okay. I'll take you friend home." Spencer smiled big and immediately jumped up to hug his neck.

"Thank you." Derek froze, but melded his arms around her. Derek noticed when the hug lasted too long and put her down. Spencer shifted nervously, but kept her gaze with Derek.

"Spencer!" Stiles shouted. She didn't move or look the other way. She remained connected with Derek. That is until Derek turned his head to the front of the house. Spencer frowned but bit her lip to hide it from Derek.

"You should go." Derek told her. Spencer nodded. She turned to leave but Derek stopped her by her arm. He looked her up and down noticing that again she was in a golden yellow dress, just like that day all those years ago. His face softened, showing his weakness again. "Be careful." She smiled when he showed her he cared. Even though she was confused why she should be careful. She nodded.

"I will be." She said placing a hand on his that was still wrapped around her arm.

"Spencer!" Stiles shouted again.

"Do you have a phone?" Spencer asked. Derek shook his head. "You should get one." Spencer wasn't normally this forward, but she felt comfortable enough to be. She didn't know how she felt comfortable around Derek so quickly, but she didn't care.

"I'll work on it." Spencer smiled as she jogged back to Stiles. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to his car.

"What took you so long? Scott could be dead right now."

"I was only gone a second. I needed to get someone to take Allison home."

"Who'd you get/" Stiles asked as they climbed into the Jeep. Spencer hesitated. She texted Allison that her friend Derek would be taking her and but her phone in one of the cup holders.

"Is it really important?" She said, hoping he would let it go.

"No, I guess not." He answered, a little hurt.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap." She face the window, attempting to block herself from anymore conversation. Stiles grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. He didn't say anything. Neither did she, but he squeezed her hand saying that everything was okay. She smiled and remained staring out the window. When they got to Scott's house, they let themselves in and ran upstairs. Stiles tried to open the door, but Scott closed him out.

"Go away." Scott said through his teeth.

"Scott. It's us. Let us in. Scott." He pushed on the door harder. "Scott, we can help."

"No!" He shouted. "Listen. You gotta find Allison."

"Scott, she's fine." Spencer called through Stiles and the door. "I got her a ride from the party. I apologized for you. She's okay. What's wrong with you?" Scott screamed.

"I think I know who it is." Spencer didn't understand. She gave Stiles a confused look. Stiles looked back sympathetically, but snapped back to Scott.

"Who? Urgh, Scott will you just let me in? We can try – " Stiles pushed on the door.

"It's Derek! Derek Hale. He's the other werewolf."

"Werewolf?!" Spencer shouted, shocked.

"He's the one that bit me." He continued. "He's the one that killed that girl in the woods."

"Scott, what the hell are you talking about? This is crazy. Derek didn't kill that girl. He's the one that I asked to take Allison home." Scott screamed. Next the door Stiles was pushing on swung open and Stiles fell to the ground. The room was empty.

"Where did he go?" She asked, leaning over his bed to look out the window. Stiles grumbled and cursed.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. This is okay."

"What's okay?" Stiles sighed.

"The werewolf joke? Not a joke. Scott's a werewolf. So is Derek. Derek killed that girl."

"Stiles that's not funny! You can't just accuse someone of murder because you feel threatened by him."

"Spencer, listen!" He grabbed her shoulders, a little too roughly. "This is what I've been so occupied with the past few days. The signs are all there. Now it's a full moon, and Scott is changing now. Worse, he might kill. Think about it, Spence. Why would I lie to you?"

"You already have lied to me. You kept something from me." She said, hurt,. Stiles felt a crack in his own heart for being the one to hurt her. "How do you expect me to believe you now?" She stripped herself of Allison's sweater and exchanged it for one of Scott's heavier sweatshirts. She rushed out of his room. Stiles followed but stopped on the stairs.

"Where are you going?" He called down the stairs.

"To find Scott. And then find Derek." She said, slamming the front door.

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**A/N: Chapter SEVENNNN! Just so you guys know, I really like reviews. I want to know what you guys think so please, please, please, let me knowww! :)**

**Shout-out to those who are reviewing!**


	9. E I G H T

Stiles cursed himself when he let her walk out the door. He hated himself for lying to Spencer. He couldn't dwell on his thought. He decided to take the initiative and go check on Allison. He drove quickly ignoring speed limit signs to Allison's house. he nearly fell out of his car. He ran up to the door and rang the doorbell, but he got impatient and started knocking on the door.

"Come on! Come on!" He knocked more. Finally the door opened. "Hi! Mrs. Argent! You have no idea who I am." He pointed out. She nodded. "Uh, I'm a friend of your daughter's. Uh… Look, this is gonna sound kinda crazy. Well really crazy. You know what? Crazy's not even the wor – "

"Allison!" She called up the stairs. "It's for you!" Allison appeared at the railing on the second floor. When she saw Stiles, she gave him a pissed off look. Stiles let out a huge sigh.

Spencer ran through the woods. She hid her fear with the adrenaline. She thought that Scott would try to find Derek, after she told him Derek gave Allison a ride home. Derek's house was deeper in the woods than she remembered from past adventures with the boys. Not to mention how dark I was. She really wanted to find Scott and go back home. Preferably her own bed, at her own house, away from Stiles. He had kept the werewolf problem from her. They were supposed to tell each other everything. Not like she believed him anyway. The whole werewolf thing was only a joke.

"Where is she?!" She head, jumping, not expecting to hear anyone out here, this far from the house.

"She's safe. From you." She followed the two voices: Scott and Derek. The wind blew, moving her hair in front of her face. She groaned grabbing a hair tie from her wrist and putting her hair in a messy bun. "Spencer?" she finally came into view of the two boys. She sighed in relief, looking to Derek. He moved to her side. "What the hell are you doing out here?" He asked with a hard expression.

"I was looking for Scott." She looked to Scott and jumped back. He was different. He looked like a wolf. Scott growled. Derek stepped in front of Spencer, shielding her from Scott. "Scott?" She asked. he growled again.

"What did you do with her?!"

"Scott, are you okay? What's wrong with him?!" she asked Derek.

"Shh! Quiet!" Derek shushed both of them. He listened in closely. "Too late. They're already here. Spencer, jump on my shoulders."

"What?" She questioned. "Who's here?"

"Just jump!" He said forcefully. She did and he caught her legs when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He got weak and almost dropped her when he smelled her sent so closely. But he needed to keep her safe and that's really all he cared about. "Don't scream. No matter what happens." She nodded, feeling a need to listen to him. "Scott, run!" Derek ran off with Spencer on his back. She held on as tightly as she could. Scott didn't understand. He didn't move. He looked up and saw a bright light. Next he knew he was pinned against a tree with an arrow in his arm. He screamed out. Spencer turned back to see him against a tree writhing, trying to get free.

"Derek, you have to stop." She pleaded.

"No. I have to get you safe." He growled.

"Please, Derek. Help him! He's the one with a freaking arrow in his arm."

"He'll heal."

"Dammit, Derek. If you don't stop, I will scream. And if they're after him because he's a werewolf, imagine if they hear a girl screaming on a full moon. Then they find me with you: someone who was just questioned for the murder of a girl out here." He sighed, but stopped anyway. He put her down next to a tree.

"Zip up the sweatshirt. Tuck in your dress. It's too bright of a color, they'll find you." She listened to him, doing so quickly. "Stay down. I'll come back for you." He put her hood up over her red hair. "Stay hidden. Be careful." She nodded. He ran back to free Scott, breaking the arrow. Scott finally was smart and started running the same direction Derek did. He ran to the spot where he left Spencer. He didn't even bother waiting for her to get up before he scooped her up in his arms. She tied her hands behind his neck, watching his face as he ran. He seemed so determined and in a rush to keep her safe. She smiled. He slowed to a stop at a place he thought they would be safe. Thankfully, Scott had changed back to normal.

"Who were they?" Scott asked. Derek put Spencer down but stood in front of her still. Spencer untucked the dress from her leggings and straightened it out.

"Hunters. They have kind of been hunting us for centuries."

"Us?!" Scott said, shocked. "You mean you! You did this to me!" Derek shook his head and smirked.

"Is it really so bad, Scott? That you can see better… Hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something most people would kill for. The bite is a gift." Spencer was trying to let everything sink in.

"I don't want it."

"You will. And you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it. So you and me, Scott… We're brothers now." The three stood silently for a minute.

"Okay, enough with the tv drama. Anyone wanna fill me in?" Spencer stepped forward. Derek tried to step back between her and Scott. Spencer gave him a threatening look and he backed off. She turned to Scott. "Scott?"

"Stiles was right. In what he said. I'm a werewolf. Derek is, too." Her head whipped back to Derek.

"Why didn't you change then? Why didn't you try and hurt me like Scott did?" Derek's face changed to an angered surprise.

"Scott hurt you?" He said between his teeth. Scott took a step away from Derek, sensing his extreme anger. Spencer pulled down her sleeve.

"It was an accident. I'm obviously okay. All is forgiven. So, you can put your teeth away." Then she remembered. "Stiles?" she asked worried. "What is he?"

"Human." Derek answered. She sighed, relieved. He looked at her with a soft wanting stare, but changed it quickly. "You should get home." He said to Spencer. She nodded, but changed her mind.

"Scott, can you give us a minute?" Spencer asked. Scott looked to Derek with a threatening face. "I'll be fine." She looked back at Derek. "He won't hurt me." Scott nodded, walking off a little bit.

"There really was no point in that, you know." Derek said, with a straight face. "He can still hear you." Spencer shrugged.

"Still. It's polite not to eavesdrop, Scott." She said, knowing he was listening. Derek smirked. "So you're a werewolf?" He straightened his face and nodded. "Do you change, like Scott?" Another nod. "Do you kill?" Nod. "Humans? Did you kill that girl?"

"What do you think?" He walked around her.

"I don't think that you did." She said, swallowing her fear. "I don't think that you could." She said with more confidence. "I mean, you haven't killed me."

"Yet." The two heard a growl.

"Yet." Spencer agreed. "But you won't. One more question." He nodded for her to go on. "Are you alone?" His face softened. He couldn't lie to her. Having her stand in front of him right now, being straight up with him, hardly knowing who he is. It was just like ten years ago in a golden yellow dress.

"Yes." Spencer bit on the inside of her cheek.

"Not anymore." Derek's face hardened again, but his eyes lit up. he nodded for the last time. "Work on that phone today." She said, noticing it was starting to get brighter.

"I will." Spencer smiled.

"Scott! Let's go." Scott appeared in the next second. He grabbed Spencer's hand and led them up to the road. They walked along until the sun started to rise.

"What was that?" Scott asked.

"What?"

"That thing with Derek. You two seemed really close." Spencer shook her head and furrowed her brow.

"Not really. I barely know him. I was just trying to be friendly." Scott nodded, not believing her. Spencer bit her lip. "Don't say anything to Stiles. He'll read too much into it. Plus, he kept the werewolf thing from me, so I think it's only fair." Scott put his hands in the air defensively.

"I'm not getting in between you two." She nodded. Thankfully for her, soon after that they heard the rattle of Stiles' Jeep. Spencer let out a sigh. They climbed in. Scott let Spencer sit in the front. Stiles reached over and hugged Spencer, glad to ee her in one piece.

"You know, leaving you phone in my car probably wasn't the best idea." Spencer rolled her eyes at Stiles' smart ass comment. "But I'm glad to see that you're okay."

"I'm still mad that you didn't talk to me about it. But I'm glad you aren't one of them." She hugged him back. Then Stiles began driving back into town.

"You know what actually worries me the most?" Scott asked, finally including himself in the conversation.

"If you say Allison, I'm gonna punch you in the head."

"Please. I'll whack him with a crowbar." Scott and Stiles both gave Spencer weird looks when she said that. "What? He'll heal." Scott sighed.

"She probably hates me now." Stiles and Spencer groaned.

"I don't think so, Scott."

"You might wanna come up with a pretty amazing apology though. Or you know, you could just…tell her the truth and revel in the awesomeness in the fact that you're a freaking werewolf." Scott gave him a disapproving look.

"I don't think that's the best idea." Stiles rolled his eyes. "I think we should keep this between us." Spencer said wisely.

"Urgh, okay. That's a bad idea." Scott nodded, pursing his lips. "Hey. We'll get through this." He said to Scott, squeezing Spencer's hand. Spencer smiled. "Come on, if I have t, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once. I could do it." Spencer laughed.

"Oh yeah?" she said. "And what happened to that boa?"

"Not the point!"

"It is totally the point! You can't keep a snake alive! A snake is one of few pets that requires very little maintenance. If you can't keep that alive, how do you expect to keep a human-slash-puppy alive?"

"Scott trusts me, right, Scott?" Scott looked back and forth between Stiles and Spencer, stopping at her and smiling.

"We better think of another plan." Scott said, to her. Spencer burst out laughed. Stiles gave his two friends a nasty glare. "I'm joking!" The three of them carried on conversation as if nothing had happened in the past night. No werewolf talk. Stiles and Spencer stealing glances at each other. Scott telling lame jokes. And not once in the midst of things did Scott feel like the third wheel.

Stiles drove Scott back home and continued onto his own house. there was a comfortable silence between the two. Spencer leaned her head towards the window and quickly dozed off. Stiles shook her awake when they got to his house.

"Spencer." He said, she slowly opened her eyes. "Come on. Let's get you up to bed." She nodded almost stumbling out of the car and up the stairs. She threw herself onto Stiles' bed and closed her eyes. When she heard Stiles start up his computer, her eyes opened quickly.

"Stiles?" He turned his chair.

"Hmm?" His eyebrows were raised in a questionable way.

"Lay with me, please." He smiled, through his nervousness and nodded. As soon as he laid down, Spencer cuddled up to him with an arm around his waist and her head on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat until drifting off to sleep.

By the time Spencer woke up it was dark outside again. She didn't even realize she had been that tired. When she fully opened her eyes she realized Stiles wasn't in bed with her anymore. Also that the room ha d a faint flickering glow to it. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes so she could see better. She looked down at her hands and noticed black on her two forefingers. She groaned realizing that she had the makeup from last night all over her face. She sat up in bed noticing that the flickering had come from a line of candles out of Stiles' room. She smiled and laughed quietly.

"Stiles?" she called. No answer. "Stiles, come on. What is this?" Again, no answer. She groaned. She got up and reached for her duffel or a make-up remover wipe. She quickly washed her face and proceeded to follow the trail of candles. The candles led her to the Stilinski living room where Stiles was sitting on the couch with his laptop, searching through his iTunes. Spencer cleared her throat behind him. Stiles jumped, nearly dropping his laptop.

"Spencer!" He exclaimed , standing, looking around. "Uh, surprise." He smiled, nervously.

"What is this?" Spencer asked.

"I promised you I would make up for last night. This was the only thing I could think of. I've got the candles for mood lighting. Pepperoni and bacon pizza and vitamin water. And, finally," he leaned over to his computer to press play. "Mood music."

"Mood music? Stiles, what exactly are you expecting to come of this?" Stiles eyes widened.

"What? Uh, nothing." Spencer raised an eyebrow. Stiles had just realized what all of this would lead to in anyone else's situation. "Oh, God. Not sex! I swear." Spencer laughed.

"Stiles, calm down! I'm only joking. Chill out." Stiles sighed. "It's just a date. I know that. Thank you. It's sweet." He smiled. He had done the right thing.

"Good, yeah. Awesome." He looked around the room again. "God! You're probably insanely hungry. Eat!" Spencer smiled and walked over to sit on the couch. Stiles opened the pizza box, and started reaching for a slice. Spencer pulled Stiles chin and moved to kiss his cheek. Stiles blushed.

"Uh, pizza?" He asked. Spencer smiled and nodded, taking a slice. They ate the whole pie to themselves quickly. Stiles hooked his laptop up to the speakers in the room. He held his hand out to Spencer.

"Dance with me."

"Didn't you get enough last night?" Spencer asked, smirking. He shook his head. "Good. I like dancing with you." She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up. They immediately wrapped their arms around each other, swaying to the music. "Have I said thank you yet?"

"Yeah. Maybe. I think so." He said, nodded and smiling.

"Stiles, I don't think I've thanked you properly." He cocked his head to the side. She smiled. "You've never kissed anyone." She said. He swallowed and shook his head, nervously. She moved her fingers to his face, touching his cheek, then moving down to her level. He was nervous and shaking a little. "Me neither." He smiled, closing the gap between their lips.

For Stiles, it was as if the ground shook and everything got brighter. The butterflies in his stomach were going insane probably with help from the Adderall he had taken earlier. For Spencer though, she still felt like something was missing. She enjoyed the kiss as much as she could, but she couldn't stop Derek from coming into her thoughts.


	10. N I N E

"Scott, look!" Scott and Spencer were waiting for Stiles to get out of the one class that they all didn't have together. Spencer stood at the window with her backpack over her shoulder. Scott turned around to look out the window Allison was sitting on a bench alone, probably waiting for a ride. "Now's your chance, Romeo. You've got to go talk to her."

"What if she doesn't believe me." Spencer shrugged. "You know, you really aren't making this easier for me to go out there." Spencer grabbed him by his shoulders and turned him to face her.

"Scott McCall. If you don't go out there, I will. And I'll be sure to say something really embarrassing about your childhood." She took a hand off of his shoulders, putting a finger on her chin, thinking. "Maybe I'll tell her when you stopped wetting the bed." Scott's eyes widened.

"You promised!" He exclaimed.

"Drastic times, Scotty. Now, who are you more scared of? Me or here?" Scott groaned. Spencer smiled, realizing she had won.

"I'll be right back." She nodded.

"Good luck." Scott walked out the door a few steps away, leaving Spencer to stare after him. She jumped when an arm snaked around her shoulder. She groaned when she saw it was Stiles. "Stiles!" She smacked his chest, playfully. "You should know better than to sneak up on me after this weekend."

"Sorry." He kissed her cheek. "What are you looking at?"

"Scott. He's talking to Allison."

"About time What'd you do threaten him?" she nodded. He smirked at her. "Teddy or Princess Halloween?"

"Bed-wetting." He smiled.

"Good one." She nodded. "Hey, come on. Walk me to the locker room." He took his arm from her shoulders to clasp their hands. "I, uh – " he gasped a laugh. "I've also wanted to talk about something with you."

"Shoot."

"Uh, I know that you and I really haven't defined our relationship. Seeing as we're still only dating. But, uh, you got Derek to take Allison home." Spencer sighed. Crap. She thought.

"Stiles, we're friends."

"He killed someone." Spencer pulled her hand away, stopping in the small hallway with the locker room.

"Do you have proof?" she asked.

"Well, not yet, bu – "

"Then how do you know he did it?"

"How do you know he didn't?" Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

"I just know. I trust him."

"Do you even know him?"

"That's not important. I don't need to know him to trust him." She said. "It's just instinct."

"Well, I think that it is important. I don't think you can know him and judge him on one instance when you were seven." Spencer took a step back and furrowed her brow.

"You know him less than I do! That's really hypocritical of you. Why can't I have friends other than you and Scott?"

"I'm not even saying that you can't! But he is a…" Stiles looked around and made his voice softer. "werewolf."

"So is Scott! Here's a surprise for you! Derek hasn't hurt me in anyway. Scott did." She held her forearm up to show him the purple bruise on her arm. "Derek tried to protect me. He saved me and Scott from those hunters!"

"Maybe he wants you as part of his pack." Stiles suggested. "You and Scott." Spencer laughed, not believe that he was even saying that.

"Stiles, stop. If he wanted that so badly he would have bit me by now. And honestly, if it meant he wouldn't be alone, I would welcome it." Spencer said angrily, between her teeth. She turned to walk away leaving Stile in front of the locker room, completely shocked.

"Spencer! That's a joke, right?!" she didn't answer, and kept walking. "Ha ha! You're funny! I'll see you later! You know, not as a ferocious, over-sized dog." Stiles cringed, thinking about Spencer becoming a werewolf. He pushed his way through the locker room and quickly changed to his uniform. While he was walking around, he noticed Scott come in.

"Did you apologize to Allison?"

"Yeah." He dropped his stuff on the ground.

"Is she giving you a second chance or…?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?! Alright! So everything's good." He started to walk away.

"No." Scott said. Stiles peeked his head back around.

"No?"

"The hunters. Her dad was one of them."

"Her dad?"

"Shot me…"

"Allison's father." He stressed.

"…with a crossbow." Scott's brow furrowed, not believing it himself. Stiles opened his mouth but nothing came out. He closed it to try again.

"Allison's father…?"

"YES! Her father! Oh, my god." Scott began to freak out.

"No." Stiles came over to Scott to calm him. "Scott. Snap back. You okay? Hey, okay." Scott calmed, slightly. "He didn't recognize you, right?"

"No, no. I don't think he did."

"Does she know about him?"

"I don't know. What if she does?" A whistle blew outside. "This is gonna kill me, man." Scot complained, near tears.

"Scott, stop. Just focus on lacrosse, okay? Here, take this." Stiles picked up Scott's lacrosse stick and handed it to him. "Take this and focus on lacrosse for now, okay? That's all you gotta do, yeah?" Lacrosse." Stiles pushed Scott out of the locker room. "Here we go."

Spencer pushed herself out the door into the gloomy day. had she just said that? She didn't even think about it. It kind of just came out. She didn't know if she even believed it.

She walked across the field, thankful none of the players were on the field yet. She saw Lydia sitting on the bleachers, bouncing her legs up and down, probably from the cold. Lydia waved her over and Spencer nodded, joining her.

"Hey, Lydia." She said, smiling, sitting down.

"Spencer." She said. "How'd your Friday go?" she elbowed her friend and winked. Spencer sighed.

"Not as good as you think it did. Scott got sick and we had to go take care of him."

"Mmhmm." She mumbled, looking at her nails.

"But he made it up to me on Saturday." Spencer smiled. This caught Lydia's attention. She oohed.

"Do tell."

"I woke up. I'd been sleeping all day. and there were candles and music. Pizza and dancing. We kissed."

"Oh, yeah. Was it good?" Spencer shrugged.

"I'm not sure. It was only my first kiss. But yeah, I guess." Lydia raised an eye brow. "I loved the kiss." Spencer found Scott on the field playing He wouldn't be paying any attention to what she'd say next. And she knew that Stiles couldn't hear her. "To be honest, though, I didn't really feel anything. I mean, I felt something, but it wasn't really fireworks." Lydia nodded, watching Jackson on the field. Spencer followed her gaze. "Do you feel that way with Jackson?" No answer. "Lydia?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you feel fireworks? When you're with Jackson?"

"Yeah. Um, I guess." Lydia took a breath. "Spencer. You know what you're problem is?" She shook her head. "You've had one real date with this guy."

"So? I've been best friends with him since kindergarten. And I've known him longer than that."

"Well, maybe that's all you're supposed to be."

"Best friends?" Lydia nodded.

"Maybe add some benefits in there, too." Lydia pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders. Spencer laughed.

"Lydia, I just told you I didn't feel fireworks with this guy. I'm not about to go have…do that with him."

"You can't even say sex. No wonder you don't want to have sex with Stiles." Spencer watched as Scott's head whipped around to the stands.

"Shh! Lydia!"

"What?" It's not like anyone can hear us." She gestured to the empty bleachers.

"You'd be surprised." Spencer said through her teeth. This distracted Scott, making Coach blow the whistle on him.

"McCall!" He laughed and walked towards Scott, who was hunched over on the field. He was probably frustrated. "Hey, McCall!"

"You sure you still want to be first line, McCall?" Jackson joked. Spencer's eyes darted to him with a glare. He saw her when he went to check out Lydia and nervously looked away. Spencer looked back to Scott to see him breathing heavily.

"Oh, no." She looked over to Stiles who wasn't paying any attention to the field. "Lydia, I'll call you later." She nodded. "Stiles!" He turned around on the bench. Spencer got up from her seat and ran down the bleachers to join Stiles on the bench. "Stiles, look at him." He turned his attention from her to Scott.

"He's fine. He's just playing really hard." Spencer shook her head.

"What if he's not. We can't have him change here. There will be a riot with torches and pitchforks."

"Calm down." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close to get her warm. "He'll be fine." He kissed her temple.

"McCall's gonna do it again!" Coach shouted walking off the field. "McCall's gonna do it again!" He blew his whistle. "Let's go!" The players ran around the field trying to make the play.

"Did you really mean what you said earlier?" Stiles asked her. Spencer's eyes remained on the field.

"I don't know." She said, honestly. "I said it mostly because I was angry."

"I really don't like you being around Derek. He's dangerous."

"No, he's not. Derek wouldn't hurt me."

"How do you know?" Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I just know." Spencer chewed at her finger nails, nervously watching Scott. Everything slowed when Scott caught sight of Jackson. He quickly ran to him. Jackson frozen. Scott ran in a straight line until he crashed into Jackson, knocking him to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Scott fell to the ground on all fours.

"Stiles! Go over there!" Spencer said, pushing her friend off the bench, then standing to watch better. Stiles ran almost tripping over his own feet.

"Scott? Scott, are you okay?" Coach ran out after Stiles, only he went to Jackson.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Coach mumbled.

"I can't control it, Stiles. It's happening." Scott said through his teeth.

"What? Right here? Now?" Stiles looked around stopping at the spot where Spencer stood. He gave her a worried look. She shook her head and shooed them off the field. "Alright. Come on, get up. Come on. Come on." He rushed the tow of them off the field. Spencer stood from the bench to run after them, but a hand on her upper arm stopped her. She smiled, looking up at the person.

"Derek." She breathed.

"I wouldn't follow them." Spencer furrowed her brow. "Scott's shifted. It could get ugly." Spencer's eyes widened.

"Well, then I have to go. I can't leave Stiles in there alone." She tried to pull herself from Derek's grasp, but he only moved his hand to hers.

"Don't." Derek said, holding himself back from taking her far away from the school to ensure her safety.

"You're kidding, right? You'd just let Stiles die in there?!" Spencer asked, pulling her arm away from Derek forcefully.

"He won't die." Derek said, letting her go. She stayed to listen to what he had to say. "Maybe a scratch. But Scott won't kill him. There's still a part of his real self in there." Spencer sighed and hoped what Derek said was true. Derek heard the soft siren of an ambulance. He decided that he should go and turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Spencer asked him. Derek stopped, turning back and shrugged his shoulders.

"Home."

"Alone?" He nodded. "Can I come?" Spencer asked, then bit her lip. Derek lightened up inside. He wanted nothing more than to take her with him and spend time with her.

"Are you sure your friends won't care? They don't seem to like me."

"Who says they have to know?" Spencer smirked. Derek smirked back at her sneakiness. He didn't applaud her attitude towards the boy that she was dating. He didn't' dwell on it thought because he remembered that she was choosing him right now over the boy in the locker room.

"Alright, come on." Spencer smiled.

"You know, you need to be more careful when you're driving." Spencer stepped out of Derek's car when they arrived at his house. She had texted Stiles saying that she and Lydia were going back to Lydia's for dinner. Lydia, of course, covered for her, and told her how Jackson was doing.

"What?" Derek asked confused.

"Well, I'm guessing the whole Fast and Furious think is kind of a dream for you, and believe me, it's kind of hot. But… if you ever want Scott and Stiles to like you, you're going to have to be more careful with me." Derek shook his head and started walked towards the house. Spencer stopped on the porch to look at her surroundings.

"What?"

"Believe it or not, with all of our adventures up here to "The Haunted Hale House," I've never been inside. The three of us would say we'd finally go in, get up here, chicken out, and run away screaming." Derek showed a small smile.

"I'll protect you." Spencer nodded.

"I know." The two walked into the house, Derek after Spencer. She looked all around at the charred house. "Wow. I bet this place was beautiful." Derek nodded, only looking at her.

"It was. I still see it. The way it was."

"Have you ever thought about re-doing it? So everyone else can see it the way you do?" Derek shrugged.

"It wouldn't bring them back." Spencer nodded, solemnly. It was silent for a moment. The two moved to the living room. Spencer was scared to touch anything, fearing it would instantly turn to dust.

"I remember that day." Spencer said suddenly. Derek looked at her. "I remember you. I remember what I said to you. Do you remember?" Derek panicked and shook his head, lying. "I figured." She said, sad he didn't remember. "If I had known what you knew, I probably wouldn't remember me either." Derek nodded, now wishing he hadn't lied.


	11. T E N

Derek and Spencer hung out for about an hour. Derek was letting Spencer do all of the talking. He kept asking her questions about herself, not letting her ask him anything. Spencer didn't mind. She liked talking to him. She liked spending time and being with him. He drove her home as she led the way, pointing in directions that he needed to drive. He parked across the street, then noticed the police cruiser parked in the driveway.

"You're parents work for the department?" Spencer shook her head.

"That's Stiles' dad. I basically live here though." Derek hid his growl.

"And you're dating him?" Spencer shrugged nervously. She didn't like talking about Stiles to Derek.

"Yeah. I guess. I mean, we've been on one date. Sort of. It wasn't really a date. We ate pizza at home." Derek nodded, feeling a pang of jealousy.

"What about your house? You're parents?" Spencer smiled.

"I should go. If we idle out here Stiles will see and freak out." Derek grit his teeth over Stiles' claim over Spencer. "We should hang out. Thursday."

"Yeah." He pulled a piece of paper from a center cup holder. Spencer opened it, saw a phone number, and smiled.

"Thanks." She hesitated in her seat, wanting to hug him. "I'll text you." She pushed herself out of the car. Derek didn't even wait for her to get inside before he sped off. She scrunched her nose in disgust. She instantly pulled out her phone from her pocket and texted **Bye**. She shoved her phone back in her pocket and ran upstairs to Stiles' room. She burst the door open and Stiles turned around in his computer chair firing a fake gun towards her. "Stiles!"

"Sorry, you scared me."

"Spencer?" Scott called from the computer. Spencer sat down on Stiles lap in the chair." What did you find out?" Stiles readjusted himself under Spencer. When he did, she felt something poke her leg.

"Stiles!" she shouted, jumping up. Stiles reached into his pocket pulling out a pen.

"Sorry. Sorry. It's only a pen." Spencer narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, come on. It really was just a pen." He opened his arms for her to sit back down. She did, slowly.

"Alright." Scott said, carefully watched the two. "So what happened to Jackson? What did you find out?"

"Uh," Spencer pulled her phone back out of her pocket. She searched for the text from Lydia. "Jackson has a separated shoulder." Stiles wondered why she was looking at her phone instead of pulling that from memory.

"Because of me?" No," Stiles told him, "Because he's a tool."

"Is he gonna play on Saturday?" Spencer shrugged.

"They don't know yet." She said. "Hopefully, you're on your a-game Saturday." Scott sighed. Stiles looked closer to the corner of his computer.

"What's that?" He asked Spencer. Spencer looked too, and saw what he did. Only she saw who it was.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Scott asked. the signal on the computer went out, briefly. Stiles typed around Spencer's torso. **It looks like…** Then the computer froze on Scott's end, the rainbow wheel of death came up.

"Oh, no."

"Did you see something I didn't?" Spencer pushed her lips together, not saying a word. Stiles typed a second message, **Someone's behind you**, because he questioned it. In the next second, Scott was disconnected from the call.

"Oh, no."

"Is that all you can say?" Spencer shrugged, standing up, to move to sit on his desk.

"I'm just worried."

"Worried? Why would you have to be worried? What was that?" Stiles asked.

"Uh, it might have been Derek and he seemed kind of mad."

"Derek? Wait! Seemed? It was way too dark. How could you tell?" Spencer sighed. _Damn you, Stiles, for being so smart._

"I didn't see from the computer. Derek just dropped me off. I was with him. Not Lydia." Stiles stood up. his heart stopped. Even though she's been right in front of him, perfectly okay, he still felt the need to check her for bruises and cuts. "I was gonna tell you, eventually. When you warmed up to him. I'm fine, though. You can stop checking me." She put her hands on either side of his face. He sighed, closing his eyes, feeling her touch.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." She said, lowering her hands. "We went to his house and talked. He drove me home. When he left, he seemed angry."

"Do you think he'll hurt Scott?" Spencer shook her head.

"Maybe threaten him. He was at practice and I'm sure he knows what happened." Stiles moved in closer, between Spencer's legs placing his forehead on hers. Stiles wallowed his nervousness.

"Dammit, Spence."

"I'm sorry." She sighed, moving her arms around his neck.

"I think you should tell me when you're with Derek. I won't stop you. Just let me know. I can't lose you to something like that. What happened with that girl – "

"You still can't prove that he did that." She said, pulling away.

"No, but he's still a suspect. But that is not the point. If that happened to you, I could never forgive myself. Especially if it turns out that Derek did it."

"Alright. I'll tell you. Now, this is me telling you, that I'm hanging out with Derek Thursday night." She jumped up from her seat on the desk and went to his closet to change.

"Night?" he said through his closet door. "Are you sure that's safe?" Spencer opened the door quickly hiding her bare upper body with the door. She glared at him. "Okay, okay." He back away with his hands raised, in defense. He quickly changed his pants and laid down in his own bed. "So, I was thinking…"

"Yeah? Don't hurt yourself." Spencer joked, stepping out of the closet in short shorts and one of Stiles' t-shirts. His jaw dropped.

"Uh, well…um." Spencer laughed.

"Chill out, Casanova." Stiles took a deep breath.

"How about you and I go on a real date? Tomorrow?" Spencer climbed in bed next to him, getting him more nervous.

"You're acting like we've never slept in the same bed."

"It's been a weird day."

"Tell me about it." Stiles opened his arms for Spencer to crawl in. she entangled her legs in his. Thankfully, she shaved this morning. "But, yes. A date would be wonderful." She looked up at him. She leaned up to kiss him softly.

"I like kissing you." She smiled at his comment, and moved to kiss him again. _Maybe I can grow to really like him,_ she thought. She laid her head down and drifted to sleep.

Derek froze in his spot on the tree outside Stiles' window. If he wasn't angry before, he sure was now. The control that boy had over her was maddening. Spencer was the kind of person who shouldn't need to tell someone where she was. She was a free spirit. She could make decisions for herself. Derek growled quietly, jumped from the tree, shifted and ran.

"How in the world are you understanding any of this?" Stiles asked, running a hand across the top of his shaved head. Spencer laughed from the desk next to him.

"Stiles, you're smart. You know this. What's going on?" I'm not sure. Maybe you're distracting me." she smiled.

"How am I distracting you if I'm actually doing my work?" Stiles scoffed.

"It's your pure awesomeness. It just radiates off of you to everyone around you. And for me, since I'm you're b…b…date for tonight, it is like ten times worse for me."

"I think that you're making excuses."

"What do you want to do tonight?"

"Stiles…you have to do your work." He waved her off.

"don't worry about me. I'll get it done. But what do you want to do?" Spencer shook her head.

"We can get pizza?" Stiles shoulders dropped as he stared at her with a questioning glare. "Pizza?" He asked. "We had pizza last time." Spencer shrugged, turning back to her worksheet."

"I like pizza." Stiles sighed. "Did Scott talk to you? About Derek's visit? Like what he said?" Stiles shook his head.

"Honestly, I haven't heard from him since then. Wish I had. He won't answer his phone. I think Derek really flipped him out so he skipped this morning."

"Garner! Stilinski!" Mr. Harris called from the front of the classroom. The two looked up at him like a deer in headlights. "I'm not afraid to give you detention all week." Stiles jaw dropped.

"We weren't doing anything.

"Sorry, sir. We were only talking about your worksheet." The teacher glared at them before accepting Spencer's reason as truth and looking away.

"How did you – ?" Stiles asked, pointing to the front at Mr. Harris. "I swear that dude hates me."

"I can't see why." Spencer said, sarcastically. "Maybe is because you call him dude." Spencer shrugged jokingly. Stiles faked a laugh at her. The bell ran and they were dismissed. Spencer and Stiles tried to run out of the classroom.

"Garner." Harris called, stopping her and Stiles. "Stay. Stilinski, go."

"Stiles looked to go Spencer. She nodded.

"Go. Try and call Scott." He nodded and walked out. Harris went to close the door. "Sir, I don't mean to criticize, but shouldn't you leave that open?" Harris nodded, leaving it open a crack. Spencer sat on a desk behind her.

"Miss Garner, I don't appreciate you lying to me."

"Sir?"

"You lied and said you were talking about the worksheet."

"We were talking about it."

"Stop. Lying. To. Me." He said, through his teeth. He took a deep breath and moved to stand in front of her. Spencer moved back more on the desk, creating a safe student-teacher distance. "You're such a prey girl. Way oo pretty and smart to be sticking up for a boy like Stilinski."

"Stiles is my best friend."

"He's not good for you." He stepped forward.

"I don't think that's any of your business." She tried moving back on the desk more but hit the edge. Her heart started beating fast and loud. She could feel it in her chest. His thighs me the front edge of the desk. Spencer kept her eye open, no taking them off of him, scared of what he would do. She didn't even blink.

Stiles nodded to Spencer leaving Mr. Harris' classroom. The guy hated him. He wasn't even sure what he'd done to make him so annoyed with him. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Scott. When he didn't answer a few seconds later, he called him. Scott answered after three rings.

_"Hello?"_ He answered.

"Dude, where are you?" Stiles asked.

_"My alarm didn't go off. I'm on my way now."_

"Are you okay? I mean, Derek…totally uncalled for."

_"I'm fine. I'll tell you when I get there. How'd you know it was Derek?"_

"I didn't, Spencer did. Apparently, they're friends or something."

_"Speaking of Spencer, is she with you?"_

"No, she's talking with Harris. I'm right outside the door."

_"Her heart is beating really fast. I can hear it. She sounds kind of scared."_

"Scared? Why would she be scared?" Stiles moved by the door and looked through the crack. Harris was leaning over the desk Spencer sat on. "Scott I'll call you back." He hung up and pushed the door open. "Spencer?" he said. Harris' head bolted to the door and glared when he saw Stiles there. "A – are you ready to g – go?"

"Stiles!" Spencer sighed, pushing herself off of the side of the desk and ran to him. "Come on let's go." She grabbed him from the room. She walked with him to their next class. "Did you get a hold of Scott?"

"Yeah. What was that?"

"What did he say?"

"He slept late. He's on his way." He almost tripped as Spencer hurried down the hall. "What's wrong?"

"Is he alright? Derek probably scared the shit out of him. I'm gonna talk to him." She took her phone out and started looking for Derek's number.

"Spencer?"

"I know I put his number in here. I texted him last night."

"Spencer?"

"I thought, I did."

"Spencer?!" Spencer looked up at him. "What happened?" Spencer sighed.

"I think Harris hit on me."


	12. E L E V E N

"He what!?" Stiles exclaimed.

"Will you just shut up and drop it. Never, ever, leave me in a room alone with him again. Do you understand?" She let his arm go and began walked towards her locker.

"Of course, I would never. But we should tell someone."

"Who are we going to tell? No one with believe us without any proof."

"We can get proof."

"Stiles, I'm not going anywhere near that creep just to get proof." She stopped at her locker and turned it for the combination.

"Spence, I can't let this go."

"Stiles, drop it."

"Spencer…"

"Don't make me call you by your first name?"

"Do you even know how to pronounce it?" He asked, questioningly.

"Stiles!"

"Okay!" Stiles exclaimed, defensively. "So we aren't telling anyone? Not even Scott?"

"Especially not Scott. We can't let him get angry over this."

"I am angry over this."

"Good thing that you don't turn into a ravenous wolf." She said, sarcastically, exchanging books from her locker.

"Will you tell Derek?" he asked, not really wanted to know the answer. He didn't want her to confide in Derek like that. Moreover, he didn't want Derek to freak out.

"I don't know does it matter?" Stiles shrugged.

"Maybe. If you can't tell Scott, how can you tell Derek? Scott is our best friend. We tell each other everything."

"he is also very protective of me. just like you. Only when he gets mad now, about this, there will be no stopping him from ripping Harris' head off."

'Who's to say Derek will keep his cool?"

"He did on the full moon. Scott didn't. And you know, I thought you weren't going to butt into our relationship." Spencer asked, slamming her locker.

"So now, you're in a relationship with him?" Spencer groaned, running a hand through her hair.

"Dammit, Stiles!" She exclaimed.

"What?"

"You know what? I don't even want to be here anymore."

"Ok, fine. I'll take you home."

"No, I want to be alone." She turned and walked away from Stiles.

"Spencer, you can't just walk – "

"I can do what I want." She snapped, pushing herself out of the school's front door. She walked quickly off the school grounds and halfway down the next street before pulling out her cellphone.

"Hello?"

"Can you come get me?" she asked.

"Spencer?"

"Yeah, can you come get me?"

"Where are you?" She told him where she was and he pulled up five minutes later in his black Camaro. She smiled big when she got in the car. "What's wrong?"

"I wasn't feeling it at school." Derek knew there was something else behind it, but he didn't push it. So, can you take me home?" Derek nodded.

"Stiles' place?" Spencer shook her head.

"I haven't been home in a while. I've got a lot of things I should do there." Derek nodded. He drove slowly and quietly in the direction Spencer told him to. He pulled up to a blue house with only one car in the driveway. He pulled in next to the car and turned off his. "Thanks." Spencer said. Derek nodded. "Do you want to come in? We can hang out for a bit. I've got, uh...something to do later, but we can still hang out for a little bit."

"You said that you have stuff to do?"

"It's really just re-organizing my closet. You can help. Lydia gave me a bunch of her clothes. I have to make room for them."

"Is someone home?" He gestured to the neighboring car. Spencer shrugged.

"Does it matter?" Derek shook his head. "Alright, then. Let's go." She smiled and opened the door of the car. Derek sighed and copied her actions. He followed Spencer to the door, which she unlocked and opened. The two heard a noise from the kitchen. She held up a finger telling him to wait. "Amy?" She called. "Brian?"

"It's just me, honey." A female voice called from the kitchen. "Your father is still at the hospital." A woman with short brown hair appeared in the doorway. "You can drop the Amy and Brian crap. Who's the stud?"

"Mom, this is Derek." Derek reached forward with one hand. "Derek, this is my mom, Amy." Amy took Derek's hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Garner." Spencer looked over at him surprised. She didn't know that he knew her last name.

"No, it's Amy. I'm not one of those average parents."

"That's for sure." Spencer mumbled so only Derek could hear. Amy turned to her daughter.

"Isn't there school today? What are you doing home?"

"I could ask you the same question." She crossed her arms over her chest. Derek was surprised at the authority she had over her mother.

"I needed a shower. And some real food. Your father is fine. He's in a building full of doctors. There's nothing to trigger stress." You mean like me. Spencer thought.

"Well, I wasn't feeling well. Derek came to get me."

"No, Stiles?" Derek groaned internally.

"I don't do everything with Stiles, Amy." That comment made Derek feel better.

"Sure, you don't." Spencer rolled her eyes. "Alright, so what are you guys gonna do?"

"Organize. I'm sure you saw all those clothes Lydia's people brought over." Amy nodded.

"Everything has been moved to your room."

"Thanks." Spencer waved to Derek to follow her out of the main room.

"I'm going back to the hospital. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. I'm staying at Stiles' tonight."

"Does your mom know that you date Stiles?" Derek asked Spencer. Spencer shrugged and shook her head. "And she doesn't care that we're here? Alone. In your room."

"Nope. She's way too busy with my dad to even bother being a parent." Spencer opened the door to her room to see four clothing store racks stuffed with hangers and boxes of shoes on a bed that hasn't been made in a couple of weeks. "It's fine though. I'm never really in trouble. Plus, I've got Scott's mom, Stiles' dad. They're more like my parents anyway."

"That's good." Derek said, with his usual straight face. "At least you're not completely like m." Spencer moved over to a rack and threw something aside she knew she didn't like. She picked up the next dress. Another yellow one. Different from the one from Jackson's party.

"What is it with Lydia and yellow?" she moved to throw it away but Derek grabbed her hand softly to stop her. Spencer felt a spark course through her hand. She stared at their hands. "What?"

"I think you should keep it."

"Why?" She still didn't look away from her hands. She liked the feeling of Derek's hand on hers.

"I like you in yellow. I think you look great when you wear it." Spencer smiled and looked up at him. She threw the dress on the bed starting a new 'keep' pile. She then quickly fingered through the racks and copied her action again with any other yellow cloth she could find.

"Happy?" she asked him. He nodded. "Good." She stated. The two remained silent for ten minutes while Spencer thumbed through the racks. Derek stood there in the middle of the room not know what to do but watch her carefully. He memorized the way she walked. He noticed the way her eyes lit up when she found something she liked and how she scrunched up her nose when she saw something she didn't. he eventually got lost in her not even realizing when she'd asked him a question.

"Derek!" She said, loudly, in his face. He snapped out of his fantasy with a grunt. Spencer laughed at him.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Where'd you just go?"

"I thought I heard something." He lied. "I was focused on it. It was nothing though." Spencer nodded with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. A second later she shook it off.

"We're good friends, right? I mean, I know it's been a week or whatever, but I feel like I can tell you anything."

"Uh, okay?" he was confused.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend…?" She asked carefully, turning her back, not knowing if she actually wanted to know. Derek coughed, not expecting that question. "Shit, I'm worry. That was a really personal question."

"No, um…" he cleared his throat. "It just surprised me. I guess, no, not really."

"Not really? Did you guys only date? Did it get serious?" Talking about his relationship with her got Derek angry. He tried his hardest not to show how much it affected him.

"Believe it or not, I've never been on a date." Spencer turned to face him with surprise. "She was more of a friend."

"With benefits?" She looked down at her hands. "I'm guessing.

"You could say that." It was quiet again. "So have you…?"

"No," Spencer laughed. Derek smiled to himself. "No, uh, I've just barely had my first kiss actually. Oh, that's embarrassing." She turned back to the clothes to hide her blush from Derek. She couldn't believe she had just said that. He was so experienced and she's only just kissed a guy. Derek wanted to talk her out of her embarrassment but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"So…" Was all that came to mind.

"So, what do you think of this one?" Spencer asked, quickly pulling a little black dress from the rack and twirling around with the hanger held up to her body. She smiled big, pushing her recent comment from her thoughts. Her smile alone made Derek want to smile. He did, but barely.

"It's great." Spencer's smile got bigger.

"Good. I'll wear it tonight." Derek furrowed his brow.

"Tonight?" Spencer turned and scrunched up her face.

"Uh, yeah. Tonight. That thing I had to do tonight… I've got a date with Stiles." Derek was a little hurt but didn't say anything or show it.

"Oh." He said, unable to form any other words. He thought in the silence between them. 'Should I let you get ready then?" Derek moved towards the door.

"No!" Spencer said, grabbing his toned arm. Spencer hand burned over his hot skin. She loved the feeling of his skin on hers. Even with the slight touches they've shared. "Uh, no." She said, looking down at her hand and pulling her arm away. "It's barely lunchtime back at school. I've got hours to get ready. It only takes fifteen minutes to make me beautiful." Derek wanted to comment that it really took no time at all but he held back. She smiled. "Stay. I'm gonna need your werewolf strength to lug some of this crap out of here." Derek groaned.

"Alright."

The two worked for the rest of the day, until around three, to clear out the old and bring in the new. Spencer ended up keeping most of the clothes from Lydia and some of her old clothes that she knew she would miss. Derek unknowingly pushed her into keeping all of the items that he knew he would like her in. He did it quietly and nicely, saying that she looked good in it and Lydia gave that to her specifically. At 3:30, the doorbell rang.

"I'll be right back." Spencer said, quickly walking to open the front door. She saw Stiles standing there through the windowed front door. She swung it open. "Stiles, hey! How was school?"

"Peachy. Who's car is that?"

"Derek's?" She said, obviously. "I thought you knew what car he had."

"I do. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No. I would have told you. I was going to. But we came here after he picked me up and my mom was here then we had to put away all of the clothes Lydia gave me. I got distracted. I'm sorry."

"Did you tell him about Harris?"

"No, but he'll find out if you don't keep your mouth shut. I just told him I wasn't feeling well which is the truth, because Harris is such a creep that it makes me sick."

Alright. So you're okay. He's not behind the door or something with his claws out, is he?"

"Funny." Derek croaked from the bedroom.

"No, he's in my room. And seriously, Stiles? The front door is a window in itself. You would see him.

"Just checking." Stiles defended. I don't know what werewolves can do. Maybe he has an invisibility cloak."

"That's Harry Potter, dummy." A blank look shown on Stiles' face.

"I know. I was testing you." Spencer rolled her eyes at him. "So are we still on for tonight?" Spencer nodded.

"Of course. Derek has been helping me pick out what to wear."

"I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with another guy picking out what you wear on a date with me. unless he's gay?" Stiles questioned.

"He's not gay, Stiles. I'll see you later."

"I'll be back at six. You staying over."

"Possibly." She smiled. Stiles stepped forward and kissed her cheek.

"I'll be back." Stiles walked backwards to his Jeep, smiling and never letting Spencer break eye contact. That is until he nearly ripped on the last step into the driveway. Spencer closed the door, still watching him through its window. She smiled and waved watching him drive off.

"So…" Derek said, directly behind Spencer, making her jump.

"Jesus! Derek, you're a jerk." Derek raised an eyebrow at her. "Sorry about him."

"He's still scared I'll hurt you." He said. Spencer shook her head.

"He's distracted by something that happened at school today." Derek gave her a questioning look. Spencer sighed. "You'll find out eventually." Spencer went to sit on the couch. She stuffed herself into the corner and pulled her legs up to her chest. Derek chose to sit in a chair facing the couch. She told him everything that happened starting with the beginning of the class, including what happened after with Harris. It only took her a couple of minutes to explain. Derek didn't say a single word throughout. Inside through he was a burning pit of anger. Even after she was done speaking he couldn't say anything. He was suppressing his anger.

"Derek" Spencer asked. "Are you alright?" Derek took in a breath, stood up and walked away without saying anything. "Derek?" He didn't stop. Spencer got up to follow him. He left through the door. "Derek?!" she got to the door and stopped watching him climb into his car, start it up, and speed out of the driveway and down the street. Spencer groaned. "Don't do anything stupid." She said, knowing he'd hear.


	13. T W E L V E

After leaving Spencer's house, Derek drove fast through the streets of Beacon hills to get to the high school. He was fuming. It was pretty ballsy for a teacher to get that close to a student, especially while they were still on school grounds, during school hours.

Derek arrived at the school and snuck around the halls, avoiding straggling teachers to get to Harris' classroom. Thankfully, he was there still, and all alone. Derek closed all the doors and covered the windows of the classroom.

"Excuse me." Harris said in a strong stuck-up voice. "Who are you?" Derek smiled darkly, back to Harris. He turned and crossed the room in a second grabbing Harris by the neck and pushing him against the chalkboard. Harris struggled out a squeal and tried to fight Derek.

"Don't talk." Derek growled. "Spencer Garner. Is a student." He said, pointedly. "A student!" He banged Harris' head against the board. "Don't you dare touch her. Don't even think about her or, I swear, I will have your head on a platter."

"What…are you…talking about?" Harris struggled to breathe.

"Don't play dumb with me, you stuck-up prick." Derek pushed him harder to the board by his neck, cutting off his air more. "Leave her alone. Or I will kill you." Derek angrily dropped Harris. Harris coughed, trying to catch his breath. Derek sauntered over to the door as Harris straightened up.

"Expect a visit from the police Mr. Hale." Harris smirked, his voice still a little raspy. Derek's face showed worry, only for a second.

"I could say the same to you."

Spencer stood in front of her floor length mirror straightening out her dress, when the doorbell rang.

"Shit." Spencer gasped, looking at her watch to check her phone. 6:10. She groaned. She peeked her head through the her bedroom door to see the front door. She waved to Stiles to come in. He did and she ran to her attached bathroom.

"Hey, you shouldn't be leaving your door open if your home alone."

"Stiles, that won't keep the werewolves out. Trust me." Stiles laughed, a small laugh.

"Are you ready?"

"Don't hate me." She shouted from her bathroom. Stiles smiled.

"Impossible." Stiles said to himself. Spencer stood in front of her mirror to quickly but accurately doing her makeup. She hardly ever did her make up. she liked the natural look and frankly doing her makeup just took too damn long. "So, do you care what we do tonight?" Stiles asked, looking around the living room. He was hardly ever here and never looked at the pictures. There weren't any of Spencer. Only her parents as well as more distant family members, people her dad would remember without throwing a fit.

"No, not really. Do you have a plan?" Stiles turned around to find Spencer standing in the archway fixing her earring. Stiles stared forgetting what she had just asked. "Stiles!" he shook his head, regaining his attention. "You have got to stop looking at me like that." Spencer said with humor in her voice. Stiles smiled and walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist with sudden confidence. Spencer put her arms over his, and put her hands on his shoulders, a little shaky herself.

"You look beautiful." Spencer beamed a smile.

"Thank you." She moved her head upwards to collide their lips.

"Do we even have to go out? I mean we can if you want to. I don't care. I'd rather stay here and make out." Stiles said, biting his lip and winking. Spencer pouted her lip.

"But I'm all dressed up." Stiles groaned. Spencer smiled, realizing she had got her way. Stiles trudged out of the house and to his car. Spencer grabbed her bag from the chair and followed him out of the house. she closed and locked the door behind her. Stiles was already sitting in his Jeep with it running. Spencer rolled her eyes at the passenger door that was wide open. [i]At least he opened it.[/i] She climbed in the Jeep. "You're slacking as a gentleman." She said.

"I already sat down when I remember." Spencer shook her head. Stiles drove out of the driveway and towards a nice restaurant that he had picked. The whole ride Spencer caught Stiles stealing glances at her through the silence. Spencer only looked out the window, thinking about Derek. She felt bad for him coming to her mind while on her date with Stiles, but she was afraid he'd get in trouble. She completely regretted telling him. She internally blamed Stiles because he opened his big mouth with a werewolf in the house. "You okay?" Stiles asked.

"Huh? Yeah, of course,." She replied. "It's just been a really long day." Stiles nodded, only half believing her, but he knew better than to push her. He pulled into a spot in front of a little restaurant with a big window showing out to the main street.

"What is this place?" Spencer asked. Stiles dropped his jaw.

"You've lived here your whole life, seventeen years, and you've never been here?" Spencer shook her head. "We never took you?" She shook her head again. "You deprived child. I used to come here all the time with my parents. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't been here since my mom died." Spencer softened up a little, letting Derek leave her mind.

"Awh, Stiles. I feel special."

"You are special." He said plainly. Spencer glared at him for a moment before laughing. She followed him into the building. The host, who was clearly gay, seemed to know who Stiles was and they chatted for a moment. He then led them to a table right in front of the window.

"Is this alright?" the host asked.

"Yeah, thanks, Charlie." Stiles said. Charlie pulled out the chair for Spencer.

"Thank you." Spencer said, sweetly. He smiled at her and placed a couple of menus in front of them.

"Your waiter will be here soon." Charlie smiled. Stiles nodded and Charlie disappeared. Spencer opened her menu and began to browse it. Stiles didn't pick his up. instead he only stared at Spencer. She noticed and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What did I tell you about looking at me like that?" Stiles looked away nervously. "I mean, I get it. This is different and we really don't know how to act around each other but its near stalking when you just stare at me." Stiles laughed.

"Okay. I've learned my lesson."

"Good." Spencer said, watching as Stiles picked up his menu and hide his face behind it. Spencer shook her head and glanced out the window, noticing a shadow. She squinted her eyes to see through the darkness. She nearly panicked when she saw Derek. "Shit." She said aloud.

"What?" Spencer turned her head back to Stiles. She stammered to find the right words to say.

"Uh," She moved her hand to her phone in her sweater pocket," Uh…my mom is calling. I'll be right back." Spencer got up from the table without another word. She walked out of the restaurant and went around the corner of the building. "What the hell, Derek?!" she whispered. "Did you track me here or something?"

"Yes." Spencer stared at him and scoffed.

"Why?" I'm on a date with Stiles. And who said you could just smell me out and follow me wherever I go?"

"I'm in trouble." Spencer groaned.

"That's your own problem. You ran out of my house. I told you not to do anything stupid."

"What the hell do you expect me to do after you tell me that your teacher harassed you like that?"

"I don't expect you to go harass him, just the same, that's for sure." Spencer crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you care anyway?" Derek didn't answer. He thought for a moment that now might be the time to tell her that he remembered but he decided against it he didn't want her to know how he really felt. She would be put in too much danger. Spencer clutched her forehead as a quick sharp pain settled in.

"Spencer?" Derek asked, moving closer. "Are you okay?" Spencer squeezed her eyes shut, pushing the pain away. It faded as she focused on it.

"Uh, yeah." She laughed. "I have no idea what that was." She opened her eyes and looked up at Derek and saw the worry in his face. She sighed. "Look, I don't care what you did, but it was dumb. It could make things better but it could also make things worse." Derek nodded.

"If anything, I only made it worse for myself." Spencer sighed again.

"Give me a sec." She said, rushing back in, putting her phone to her ear, faking a call. Stiles saw her and looked at her in a questioning manner. "She forgot her keys." Spencer told him. "And I locked the door." He nodded, slowly, believing him. She walked back out and around the corner, meeting Derek again. She used her nails to take a bigger three-pronged key off the chair. She handed it to Derek.

"What kinda key is this?"

"It's the key to my parents' safe house. my mom is kinda paranoid about the apocalypse or something. It's a few miles back in the woods behind out house. you can stay there until I get home. When I get back from my date," she stressed, remind him that he was interrupting, "we will talk. I'll tell Stiles I'm not feeling well or lady things."

"Won't your mom find me?" Spencer rolled her eyes, waving it off.

"Please, my mom is always at the hospital. Even if she did come home, she only goes up there once a month to restock and we already did that last week." He nodded. "Alright, now disappear so I can get back to my [i]date[/i]." He looked at her with admiration behind his hard stare so she wouldn't see his true feelings. "Go away, ya goof." She laughed. "Don't just stare at me."

"Thanks, Red."

"Red?" he hesitated, but reached his arm out to play with a strand of her hair. Spencer's heart sped up. Derek could hear it.

"It fits you." Spencer blushed at the closeness. She laughed quietly.

"I thought you were gonna make some joke about me running with wolves wearing a red hood."

"That, too." And in a second he was gone. Spencer sighed and walked back into the restaurant.

"I'm so sorry, Stiles." She pleased. "Please don't hate me. my mom is like a lost child."

"I could never hate, you Spence." He said, placing a hand over hers. Spencer smiled lightly, with Derek in the back of her mind once again. He stomach dropped. If only he knew that she was hiding Derek from him. She was sure that he could hate her. "Alright so, I'm guessing you want this?" He asked pointing to an item on the menu. "I know it's your favorite." Her heart dropped this time. She didn't know why she wasn't telling him about Derek, but her guy told her it was smarter not to. She knew, though, that if Stiles ever found out about her secret, he probably wouldn't ever forgive her. She felt bad, because Stiles was trying so hard to make their relationship work and she was acting as if nothing had changed between them. As if they hadn't had little moment or kissed. She knew her guilt wouldn't let the charade last for long, but she was hoping it would last long enough for her to figure out what was going on in her head.

She squeezed her eyes shut feeling a sharp pain in her forehead like before in the alley. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Are you alright, Spence?" Stiles asked, with worry in his voice. Spencer nodded.

"Yeah. Just a headache. I'm fine." She smiled to Stiles but she knew she definitely was not fine.

After the two ate they sat just for a moment in Stiles' Jeep. Spencer's headache hadn't gone away like the first one did. She dug through her bag trying to find some sort of medicinal relief. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything. Stiles noticed her struggle.

"Spencer are you sure you're okay?" Spencer shook her head this time. She knew she wasn't okay. "Alright, come on. I'm taking you back to my place."

"No!" Spencer said, probably too harshly. She hoped Stiles would understand why she was so angry. "Just take me home. I need to lock myself in my room. No sound. No light."

"Are you sure?" Stiles asked, not wanting to leave her alone. He thought she would be better with him there to take care of her.

"Please, Stiles. Just take me home." She begged. Stiles heard the pain in her voice so he nodded, started the car, and pulled out of the spot in the direction of Spencer's house. The car ride there was silent as Spencer sat in the seat with her forehead against the window, cold from the chill. Stiles just kept watching her, making sure she was still awake and didn't pass out. They arrived to the house and idled in the driveway. Spencer opened the door and went to get out.

"Whoa, there." Stiles jumped out of his side and went to help. "Let me help you." He rushed to her side.

"Calm down, Stiles. I'm fine." Stiles backed away, hands in the air. "I'm sorry." And I'm sorry about tonight. I wish it wouldn't end but my head is killing me." She said, sure she meant it. Both the pain in her head and the sadness of the night ending. They stood at the door.

"Spencer, please. I'm only worried about you."

"I know. It's only a headache. I'll take some aspirin. I'll be fine." Stiles nodded.

"Alright. I'll pick you up for school tomorrow." Spencer nodded. Stiles hugged Spencer tight. "Get some rest." He said, pulling her away. He kissed her forehead.

"I will." Spencer said. Stiles ran to his Jeep and got in. he watched Spencer waving as he drove away.

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So Chapter 12. Thanks for all the reviews. Love you guys!


	14. T H I R T E E N

Spencer unlocked the door and went into the house. She greeted the darkness claiming that her head didn't hurt as much. She went straight to her room. She turned off all the lights and changed into her pajamas. Just as she was pulling on a t-shirt she heard a noise. She gasped and quickly turned around, pulling her shirt down.

"Derek!" she breathed, trying her best to slow down her breathing. "What the hell?!" Derek stood at her door and didn't enter the room or say anything. "Why do you just pop outta nowhere?" She joked. Derek shrugged.

"You said that you wanted to talk." Spencer nodded, slowly, going for a sweatshirt and throwing it on.

"Yeah, I know. My head's just been hurting like crazy all night. I must have forgotten. I think I've just broke through that wall of insane about all of this." She admitted, moving to sit cross-legged. She noticed that Derek was still leaning against the door frame. "You can come in if you wanna. Just don't turn on the light."

"I don't need it." He said, simply, walking in to sit on a cushioned chair in the corner of the room. Spencer nodded.

"That's right. Somehow I manage to forget that you're a werewolf, too." She said, looking at a blanket she was picking fuzz off of.

"I guess that's a good thing." Spencer nodded. "I uh, you said your head hurt. Can I get you anything?" Spencer smiled at his offer and took him up on it. Derek got her some medicine and a glass of water. Spencer thanked him and Derek grumbled in response.

"You know, you put on a tough he-man exterior, but really you're just a big puppy dog." Spencer laughed.

"A puppy?" Derek asked.

"I don't know." She turned away nervously, then took the medicine. "So what did you do?" Derek shrugged.

"Threatened him." He said. He could see the look that Spencer gave him. "I pushed him against the chalkboard and I threatened him." Spencer shook her head, smiling at him.

"Why do you even care?" she asked, all seriousness written on her face. "I mean, we did just meet each other and everything. There really isn't much that we have in common. You're a few years older than me anyway…" She trailed off. Derek paused, almost unsure of what to say.

"We're friends, right?" Derek said. Spencer looked up at him. She could only see the outline of his face but she somehow knew that he felt hopeful. She nodded, biting her lip. "That's why I care." Spencer smiled. Derek didn't know how he was being so personal with her. He just felt as if he should be. Spencer took a breath, and the pain came back to her head. She put a hand to her head. It was much colder than her forehead. She enjoyed the coolness of her hand. Derek rushed to her side, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Red?" she took a deep breath, as the pain subsided.

"Sorry. I'm okay. Just another headache." She said, but still pinched the bridge of her nose, looking down. Derek put a hand on her lower back. Spencer felt her stomach do flips. She looked up and her face was inches from Derek's. She moved her eyes up and down. She seemed to memorize his face in the brief amount of time they were close. "I, uh…" she started but was interrupted.

"I remember." Derek said. Spencer furrowed her brow.

"You, uh, what?"

"I remember you. That day at school. You were in the office that day, too. Your hair was in braided ponytails. You were wearing a little yellow sundress. You told me to stop crying. That everything was going to be okay." Spencer shook her head, not really understanding, but she didn't move away from him.

"What?" Spencer asked. "You mean you lied to me?" Her voice was soft, but Derek could still hear her. He nodded.

"I didn't know what else to do." Derek looked away.

"The day I met you, or rather, re-met you, I came back home and I couldn't stop thinking about when I first met you. I was telling Stiles that I remembered you and he said not to think about it, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I didn't know why." Derek looked back to her but she looked away. He had a theory but he didn't want to talk to her about it. He didn't want it to be true. Not that it would have mattered anyway. She had Stiles. She never would feel that way about him.

"I'm sorry." Derek said, trying to get her to look back at him. She turned back. "I didn't want to lie to you. I guess I kinda panicked." His eyes quickly darted to her lips and back up to her eyes. He held back his instinct. Spencer saw his eyes go to her lips. She bit them and looked down. "Spencer." Derek said. She glanced back up, this time her eyes stopping at his lips. Derek reached a hand up and put a strand of hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes, loving even this smallest touch of his.

"Derek…" she sighed.

"Red, I haven't done this in a while, and I don't know if this is really okay." Spencer leaned forward and crashed her lips to his. At first he was surprised. He didn't expect her to allow this. He knew in his mind that she still had Stiles. She was still with Stiles. But now that she had kissed him, it's like none of that mattered. He put more emphasis into the kiss, tangling his hands into her hair. Spencer leaned into him. One of his hands left her hair and the arm moved around his waist. He picked her up easily and moved laid her down on the bed, he climbed on top of her. She smiled, grabbed his face, and pulled it back down reconnecting their lips.

"Derek." She moaned in between kisses. He leaned over her so that he wasn't crushing her. His lips moved down to her neck as his animal instinct started to kick in. Spencer breathed a laugh as he hit a spot just under her jaw bone. A minute later, Spencer came to her senses. "Wait, Derek. Stop." She said, attempting to push him away. Derek pulled away and Spencer swore she saw the flash of his yellow eyes.

"What?" he said. Spencer couldn't look into his eyes. She looked past him and closed her eyes. "Is something wrong?" he asked, pulling her chin up. Spencer shook her head.

"No, not really. It's just… I'm not – I'm not ready for anything like that." She admitted, blushing. Derek laughed once and rolled off of her to sit next to her. Derek ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't believe that he'd just done that. Derek stood up and started for the door. "Derek?" Spencer asked, curious as to why he was leaving. "Please don't go." She begged. Derek didn't turn back at what she said. He kept going out the door. Spencer got up to follow him but when she looked out her bedroom door, he wasn't there. She bit her lip, sniffled a little and went to curl herself up in bed. Little did she know that he was around the corner, in the kitchen, hiding behind the wall. Derek found himself wandering back to the safe house.

The next morning Spencer woke up and didn't even feel like going to school. Five minutes before Stiles would be there, she sighed and ended up getting out of bed. She only changed into a pair of sweatpants and she put her hair in a ponytail. Hopefully, looking unattractive would make Harris leave her alone today. The second Stiles pulled into the driveway, she was trudging it out of the house. She didn't say a word as she got into the Jeep. She didn't even know what to say about last night. She figure that she shouldn't tell him anything since it obviously meant nothing and would end up being nothing. She couldn't believe that she had let it happen in the first place. She was stupid and she felt bad.

"Hey, Spence." Stiles said, with a big smile on his face. Spencer only grumbled a response. "How are you feeling?"

"Peachy." She responded. Truth is, she wasn't even that. She was getting her headaches more often. They started up again when Derek left the house. She couldn't think of any reason why she would be getting headaches.

"I take it your headaches aren't gone." Spencer shook her head, slightly.

"And they're worse. More often. More pain. I've taken 3 different painkillers since last night and none of them seem to be helping." Stiles nodded, not knowing what to do.

"Are you sure that you wanna go to school today?" Spencer nodded. She knew staying at home, where Derek could easily get to her wouldn't be an option.

"I have to go. I have a test today."

"It's only the second week of school."

"Yeah, well. It sucks and my teacher is crap, okay?" Stiles just stared. He didn't say anything either. He just pulled out of the driveway and started driving towards the school.

"Are you sure that this isn't some kind of girly thing?"

"You mean like my period?" She glared at Stiles, he nodded slowly, even though he was scared. "I cannot believe that you would even ask that. You know, that is the worst possible thing that you could have said right?"

"I – I'm – "

"Just stop."

"What?"

"Stop the car." She ordered.

"Spencer, come on."

"Stiles, stop the damn car. I'll walk from here."

"No, I'm not going to let you walk. My dad would kill me if he saw you walking these streets alone." Spencer humphed into the door of the Jeep, staying to that side. She didn't speak for the rest of the car ride and when the two arrived at the school, she rushed out of the car and into the school, leaving Stiles still sitting there.

The day for Stiles had passed slowly. Spencer wouldn't talk to him all day. He and Scott were able to have a second alone at the lunch table while Spencer was at a vending machine trying to get a soda.

"You mean, you actually asked her if she was on her period?" Scott asked. Stiles nodded. "Dude…" he started but he couldn't find the words to tell him what an idiot he was.

"I know. Worst thing I could have said. I just, I panicked. I don't know how it is to live with girls. It's been a while." Stiles said, sadly.

"I don't even know if you can count that Spencer is living with you. If she didn't stay there last night, there might be something wrong between the two of you." Stiles shook his head.

"No way. She was sick. She wanted to stay home last night."

"Are you sure she was telling the truth? I mean did she have like, uh, a fever or something?"

"No, she had headaches."

"Chicks lie, dude. You might have gotten played. Maybe she was mad at you."

"When has Spencer ever really been mad at me?" Scott shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something, but Stiles put a finger to his lip pointing towards Spencer. Scott looked back and saw that she was coming back to the table. She sat down next to Scott. "Hey, Spence? Class was pretty rough today, huh?" She just shrugged her shoulders and continued to look at her food. She didn't want to be at school, but she didn't want to be home either. Stiles was here, Derek was there. She couldn't believe the mess that she had gotten herself into and she wished that she could just go back to before any of this happened.

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Chapter 13! Thanks for all the reviews and reads and all that jazz. You guys are great!


	15. F O U R T E E N

The day dragged on. Thankfully Harris had left her alone. Derek really must have scared him into letting her be. She still didn't walk much all day. She did all of her work by herself. Even when she was told to work with a partner or a group, she didn't listen. She figured her appearance would tell the teachers that she was not in the mood to be argued with.

She walked by herself to Stiles' Jeep and wait for him there. She didn't want to go home with him or wait for his practice to be over, but she knew that he would get in trouble if his father caught her walking home alone when there was a killer out there. He had given her the keys before he ran off to the locker room. She climbed in the driver's seat and drove the car closer to the field. Then she moved over to the passenger side, and leaned the seat back to go to sleep.

She saw Lydia and Allison sitting in the bleachers, watching practice. Spencer was not in the mood for that either. She was too busy arguing with herself over what to do with everything in her brain. Just thinking about it made her head feel worse. She had so many things though to rifle through. She had Derek, Stiles, Harris, her dad, and now this whole werewolf thing to worry about. She knew that she had to figure out the boy thing first. She needed to make sure no one get hurt whether it was Stiles or herself. Even Derek. Derek was as hard as a rock, but Spencer was sure that he still had feelings.

Spencer didn't realize that she had fallen asleep but she jolted up in her seat when a door of the Jeep slammed.

"Sorry, Spencer." Stiles said, meaning it. Spencer nodded, leaning the chair up. "What do you wanna do?" he asked, hopefully. He hoped she would want to go with him back to his house. Spencer shook her head.

"I wanna go home." She looked out the window. Stiles started his car. The ride to Spencer's house was silent, just like it has been for the past few days. Neither knew what to say. Especially Stiles. Last time he said something he said the wrong thing. He knows better to not ask her about lady things. Stiles pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. The two sat in the silence for five minute before they said anything. Spencer spoke first. "Stiles, you know how we said we would see how this goes?" she asked, referring to the two of them together. "I think we've done about all we could."

"What do – what do you mean?" Stiles asked, calmly, but inside his heart was breaking.

"I mean, I don't know if I can handle us being a thing right now." She said, honestly.

"Spencer, we've been on one real date. And – and now, you're saying that you wanna call it off?" Stiles' voice cracked.

"Honestly?" She looked at Stiles, who nodded his head yes. "Stiles, look how well last night went."

"You were sick, Spence. You can't really use that as an excuse." Spencer could tell that he was started to get just a little bit angry. Good. She thought that she needed someone to get angry with her. She needed someone to yell at her. Spencer sighed.

"I think I'm stressed out. From everything that has been going on and I really don't need to worry about a boyfriend on top of everything."

"I never asked you to worry about me. I never asked for anything serious. I just wanted us to try it out but you're calling it off before it's even started!" Spencer didn't know what to say. She looked away from Stiles, down at her hands. Her book bag strap was wrapped around her hand. "Spencer, don't do this. I don't want to be just friends with you." Spencer felt tears sting her eyes. "I can't go back to not kissing you, or touching you. I really like you, Spencer." He paused, thinking. "I actually think that I might lo—"

"I kissed Derek!" She shouted, then clamping a hand over her mouth. She didn't want him to say those words. She would feel so much worse if he had. She looked at Stiles, hand still over her mouth, tears running down her face. He looked shocked and hurt, his eyes brimming with small tears as well. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what was happening. It was an accident."

"So what? You rtipped and he caught you with his lips?!"

"No!" No, I don't know. We were just talking and it happened. I'm sorry!" She yelled and pushed herself out of the car door. She ran into the house, locked the door behind her, and started to move slowly toward her room, sobbing now. She could hear Stiles calling her name and banging on the door, but she continued to ignore his attempts. She looked up through her tears to see Derek standing up from her bed. Deep down, she really wanted to yell at him, punch him, kick him out. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He hesitated at first, not knowing what to do. He listened to instinct, though, and it told him to hug her back. An arm went around her shoulder and his other hand went in her hair. The two just stood there and he let her cry into her chest.

Stiles drove quickly to Scott's house. he couldn't' be alone and he knew his friend would be there. He had to talk to someone. He didn't know what happened between him and Spencer. They were fine one week and then Derek showed up everywhere. He knew he couldn't just blame Derek, but he didn't want to think negatively of Spencer. Even after what she did he still felt she had a spot in his heart.

He used his key that he made to get in the house. He ran up the stairs and burst through Scott's door. Scott jumped when he heard the noise.

"Stiles?" he questioned. "What the hell? Have you been crying?" Stiles stumbled in the room.

"Maybe. Probably. I don't know. Spencer broke up with me. She kissed Derek. She won't talk to me." Stiles said, all in one breath. He sat on Scott's bed to catch his breath.

"Wait, What?" when did that happen?" Stiles shrugged. "and she's the one not talking to you?" Stiles nodded, signaling to Scott to pull out an inhaler. Scott tossed it to him. Stiles took a big puff from it and then a deep breath.

"I love her, dude." Scott rolled his eyes and groaned.

"You say the same thing about Lydia everyday." Stiles shook his head.

"I know, but Spencer is different. I don't hate her for what she did. I'm more upset that she broke up with me. I wish she hadn't." Scott shrugged.

"Maybe she just wants to be friends. I really don't think that you should be all over her right now. She is our best friend, Stiles. If you pull at her, you could only push her away. Don't do that or you'll hate yourself forever." Stiles nodded, agreeing.

Spencer woke up to an arm hanging over her shoulder. She turned around and saw that Derek was there, watching over her as she slept. He didn't make a sound or say anything. He only waited for her to say something first. She didn't though. Instead, she rolled back over and closed her eyes, deciding that she wasn't going to go to school today. Derek let out a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." He said, finally. Spencer shook her head into the pillow and curled herself into him tighter. She didn't want him to think any of it was his fault. It wasn't. It was all Spencer's fault. She should have realized what she was doing. She should have stopped it before it happened. She should have told Derek to shove it when he met her at the restaurant last night. Only, she didn't want to. She didn't want him to go away. She didn't want to lose him. She wanted him just to stay right here and lay with her forever.

She knew Stiles was hurt. She was hurt, too. But she just couldn't deal with him right now. He was trying to talk her out of breaking up with him, but that was all that she wanted. She wanted to be friends with Stiles. She saw that now. That's all that she knew how to be with him. They have been friends for so long, it would be too hard to adjust to something different. When she was with Derek , she didn't have to try hard to be a girlfriend, or whatever the hell that they were. All she had to do was be herself.

"Red?" Derek asked, seeing if she was awake. Derek knew deep down there was something that she felt for Spencer. Something too big. He really didn't want it to be true. He didn't want her to be put in danger.

"Hmm?" Spencer replied.

"This isn't a good idea." Spencer automatically felt new tears spring to her eyes and her heart started to beat faster. Their position didn't change. He still laid down with her, with an arm around her and one over her head.

"Please…please don't say that." She begged. "I can't lose you, too."

"You're not safe with me around." Spencer moved his arm and turned over to face him. She shook her head, and grabbed his with her hands. His eyes closed as he took in her scent which was like a perfect drug to him.

"If anything, I feel more safe with you around than I have in my entire life." She admitted. "I know that when you're around, and I'm in trouble, you will help me out. I know that you're their when I call. And I know that you'll protect me." his eyes shot open to her piercing blue ones.

"How do you know that?" She shrugged, smiling, letting her tears dry out.

"I couldn't tell you. With you, my headaches don't happen as much and that alone is a reason to keep you around." she winked. His hard stare didn't falter. "What?"

"How can you make jokes after all that has happened in that past forty-eight hours?" Spencer laughed to herself.

"When I was little, my dad used to say I was very resilient. That I could bounce back from anything bad that happened to me. I don't know how he knew that when I was only seven."

"What happened to him anyway?" Spencer sighed.

"I'm not sure. Some sort of head trauma. Now he doesn't remember me. I used to wonder where I got that resilience from if he couldn't bounce back from that. My mom kinda went into a dark time and I took care of myself after that. Since the accident, there have been only two time where he has remembered me and knew who I was. When I was 9 and 14. He had wondered how I had gotten so big in such a short amount of time. It was like he thought I was still that seven-year-old girl that he had just tucked in the night before. Sometimes when he's home, and I'm pretending to be just a roommate, I'll just stare at him, wondering if he's gonna remember me in the next minute." Spencer looked down, and away from Derek. She laughed again to herself. "I've never told anyone that." She admitted, looking back into his eyes. "Please don't leave me." she said, as a tear began to run down her face. "I don't think that I would be able to deal with that as easily as I have with everything else." Derek wiped her tear away and kissed her forehead. He turned on his back and she placed her head on his chest. "Thank you." Derek didn't respond. He only kissed the top of her head and listened to her heart beat as she fell back to sleep.

* * *

You guys don't realize how lucky you are to get this many updates so quickly. It never happens.

3:)


	16. F I F T E E N

The next morning, was Thursday. Scott had gone in early to tell the coach that he couldn't play in the game. He didn't know if he could get a handle on his anger by then. He really wanted to play but he didn't think that he could. In the meantime, Stiles still went by Spencer's house to pick her up from school. He knocked for about ten minutes before he gave up and trudged by himself to school. Spencer cried into Derek's chest as Stiles knocked on the door. She felt terrible that she couldn't just face him. That she had kept him knocking that whole time and couldn't even get up to tell him she didn't need a ride. The three friends were having a hard time sticking together. Spencer felt as if she were to blame. She was the one who was said yes to Stiles. She was the one who had taken her feelings towards Derek to a whole different level. Everything just came back to her headaches. She would still get them. They would be less intense around Derek, but they still hurt her. She didn't know what they were or why they were affecting her so much. She took medicine every chance that she could but with the medicine her headaches were still bad.

Spencer woke up to her phone making a noise. She rolled over and saw that the other side of the bed was empty. She felt her eyes tear up when she realized that Derek had left. She bit her lip to stop the tears. She rolled over to drink some water and check her phone. Her tears dried up when she saw that there was a text from Derek. It said that he had to run home for a bit but he would be back. She sighed, calming down.

She stood up from bed slowly and threw her red hair into a messy bun. She rubbed her forehead, trying to push her most recent headache away. She decided that she should keep herself occupied so she ran up to the safe house to clean up any mess that Derek had made. She ran up to the house, getting her exercise in for the day. she walked in and noticed that Derek hadn't made much of a mess at all. Almost as if he hadn't even been in there. She smiled, thinking that he was too awkward to be anywhere that he wasn't comfortable alone. She was about to turn away when she noticed that one of the books from the small bookshelf was glowing faintly.

"What the hell?" She said aloud. She walked over to the bookshelf and took the glowing book out of it. She read the front over. _GARNER FAMILY_ it read in big bold letters. She had never seen this before. She opened the front cover and it felt as if a breeze went past her. She checked the door though and it was closed. She furrowed her eyebrows and continued to read.

_"Throughout history, Garner family members have been known to be an aid to things the real world does not know exists. Werewolves, vampires, wizards, and witches. Garner women have been known to be of greater help, for they themselves have inherited anyone of these traits."_

"What?" she couldn't believe what she was reading. She didn't understand. She read through it a little bit more trying to see if she could make any more sense of it. She couldn't. She grabbed the book anyway and took it into her room. She sat with her phone in her hands trying to decide who she should talk to about this.

Scott was biking quickly through the woods. He needed to scream at Derek, punch him, kill him. He was near Allison and that made him angry. He threw his backpack and lacrosse gear to the ground and ran up to Derek's house.

"Derek!" Scott shouted. "Derek!" he looked around and saw a dug up place in the ground. "Stay away from them! Allison and Spencer!" Derek appeared on the porch. "Allison doesn't know anything and Spencer's going through a bad time."

"I know what Spencer's going through!" Derek growled.

"Then why did you kiss her?!" Derek looked away. He didn't need to justify himself to Scott. He was only a kid.

"What if your little girlfriend does know something? You think your little buddy Stiles can just google werewolves and now you got all the answers, is that it?"

"She doesn't know anything!" Scott screamed again.

"You don't get it yet, Scott, but I'm looking out for you. Think about what would happen. You're out on the field, the aggression takes over and you shift in front of everyone. Your mom, your girlfriend, you friends. And when they see you everything will fall apart. Worse: if something gets you really angry, you might just hurt someone."

"What about you? You think you can control yourself around Spencer? You're no good for her, Derek!" Scott shouted. Derek nodded his head.

"You think I don't know that?"

"What?" Scott was confused. Derek shook his head and disappeared back into the house. Scott stared back over where the ground was dug up for a moment before rushing back to his house. He called up Stiles telling him that he had found something out, possibly about the other half of the body. Stiles didn't say anything before he hung up the phone. Five minutes later, Stiles was running up the stairs banging on the walls and barged into Scott's room.

"What did you find? How did you find it? Where did you find it? And, yes, I've had a lot of Adderall today, so…"

"I found something at Derek Hale's." Scott said, standing from his desk. Stiles' mind was going wild, imagining the things that could go wrong at Derek's to get Spencer away from that werewolf.

"Are you kidding?! What?!"

"There's something buried there. I could smell blood."

"That's awesome!" Stiles smiled. "I mean, that terrible. For Spencer's sake. Whose blood?" Scott shrugged standing in front of Stiles.

"I don't know. But when we do, your dad nails Derek for the murder. And then you get Spencer back and you and her are going to help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing. Because there is no way I'm not playing in that game." Scott walked past Stiles to leave him room. Stiles punched his arm into the air and quickly followed.

Spencer sat on her bed, not exactly sure what to do with herself. She read through a first few pages of the book. Everything was much too complicated for everything to be taken in all at once. She would only end up catching on a couple of words and phrases. One sentence made complete sense to her though.

_"Once the young woman of Garner blood reaches the age of seventeen and a half, she will start showing signs of a change. There will be headaches that no medicine can cure. These headaches will be less intense around those we help. They will go away with a recipe that can be found in this book."_

She had stopped reading for that had made so much sense to her enough. However, now she had to find a recipe in a huge book, that she'd never even seen before today. With as many times as she's been up in the safe house, it was amazing to her how she had not seen it. She needed to not focus on this. She wanted to call Lydia.

"Hello?" she furrowed her brow. "Hello? Spencer?"

"Lydia?" Spencer said out loud. She looked to her nightstand for her phone which had Lydia's name lit up on it. She picked it up. "Hey, did you call me?"

"No, you called me." she said warily. Spencer was confused. She didn't call her. Her phone wasn't even in her hands. "Is everything okay?" Spencer leaned back against her headboard and let out a deep breath.

"I'm not so sure." She didn't answer. "Can I just ramble to you? You don't need to say anything."

"Yeah, of course." She took in a big puff of air.

"I'm just lost. I'm confused. I feel like my parents have kept things from me this whole time. Ever since I was born it's like they don't tell me everything about my life. About who they are. I don't even know what really happen to my dad. My mom just says it was an accident. Am I supposed to believe that? Or should I press for more? I mean, it's not like I can even get time to talk about them. Mom's at the hospital. Dad doesn't even know who the hell I am. And some shit went down with Stiles. I can't even look at him. I messed up big time, Lyds."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Can you give me a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." Spencer could still hear her on the other end.

_"Yeah, I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?"_ Lydia asked. _Who was she talking to?_ Spencer thought.

_"No. Sorry."_ Spencer groaned. She would know that voice anywhere.

"Hey, sorry about that. Some guy just came up and started talking to me about some sort of cell phone connection." Spencer groaned a second time.

"It wasn't a cell phone connection, Lydia. That was Stiles. He was talking about a connection with you." Lydia laughed.

"That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, well. Don't let him know." Spencer was still a little hurt about the fact that he was still hung up on Lydia. They were technically going out and his feelings can't just change that easily. He still liked her even when they went out. "Hey, um, Lydia. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. I might be in school tomorrow. I'm not sure yet."

"Alright, hon. I hope you feel better." Spencer nodded to herself.

"Yeah, me too."

Scott had rejoined Stiles after checking the scent of the half of the body that was found. Stiles was reading a pamphlet about the menstrual cycle. Scott shook his head and pulled the pamphlet away making Stiles jump.

"Oh, God!" Stiles shouted. A few nurses looked their way but Scott and Stiles ignored them.

"The scent was the same that I smelt at Derek's house."

"You sure?" Scott nodded.

"Yes." Stiles sighed.

"So, he did bury the other half of the body on his property."

"Which means we have proof he killed he girl."

"Which also means that Spencer is hanging out with a murderer." Stiles said, with a scared tone to his voice. "I say we use it."

"How?" Scott questioned.

"Tell me something first." Stiles began. "Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek and help Spencer, or because you want to play in the game and he said you couldn't?"

"There are bite marks on the legs, Stiles. Bite marks." Scott stressed.

"Okay. Then we're gonna need a shovel. And we have to act. Tonight. Spencer said that she was going to be hanging out with Derek tonight. It's the perfect time."

Spencer sat on her bed with her phone a foot in front of her. She wanted to see if what happened with the phone call from Lydia would happen with a phone call to Derek. She took a deep breath.

"I want to call Derek." She said aloud. Next that she knew her phone lit up as it called Derek. She smiled.

"Spencer? What's wrong?" she laughed.

"Nothing. Um, actually things are great. Well, confusing, but great. Can you come over? We're hanging out tonight, right?" He couldn't say no to her, not when she sounded so excited about it.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon."

"Hurry. I think I may have found out what's going on with my headaches. And it's…" she searched for the right word, "It's out there. Weird, I mean." Derek chuckled.

"Alright. I'll leave in five."

"I…" Spencer started not really sure how to end a phone call with him. "I'll see you when you get here." Spencer got up to her bathroom and looked in the mirror. She realized how terrible she looked and knew that she didn't want Derek to see her like this. She quickly turned on the shower and cleaned herself completely, washing her hair and even going as far to shave her legs. She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She almost ran into a body. She looked up and saw Derek. "Shit! Derek! You have got to stop sneaking up on me." she watched his eyes fall to the towel that covered very little of her body. She smirked at him. "Just gimme a minute to get dressed." She said, reaching into a dresser drawer to get a pair of shorts and one of her dad's t-shirts. She went back into the bathroom and changed, her red hair, wet and flowing down her shoulders. She came back out to see Derek rifling through the book she had found in the safe house. "That's what I found." She sat next to him on her bed. "It says that my family have helped people like you out for centuries. And by people like you I mean, werewolves, vampires, the supernatural stuff."

"That is interesting."

"And then it says that I will be something like that…" Spencer said, scared about what he would think about that. He furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it says I'm changing into one of them. I could be a werewolf or a vampire or a witch." Derek knew that deep down, Spencer was really excited about her changing. Derek was very unsure about it. He didn't know if he wanted Spencer to be different. But then again, if she was like him, he wouldn't have to worry about her too much. "That's why I have been getting the headaches. It even gives me a remedy, somewhere in here."

"Do you have an idea of what you might be? I mean, this is all pretty weird. Where did you even find this?"

"I told you, right? It was in the safe house. I went in there to clean up your mess, even though you didn't make one. And this was glowing, in the book shelf." Spencer grabbed the book from Derek and flipped through the pages herself.

"I've never heard of anything like these helpers." Derek said, honestly.

"Well yeah, maybe they like to keep a low profile, you know. So they don't get chased after, too. I mean I would hate to get on the bad side of something like any of this." She flipped through the pages of enemies. More specifically the enemies of the werewolf.

"What do you think you are?" Derek asked again.

"Honestly?" She questioned. Derek nodded. "I think I'm a witch." She told him. "I can't be sure though. I haven't read much more than what I told you. But, look what I can do." She se the phone in front of her like she had earlier. She didn't push any buttons, she just set it down. "I want to call Derek." She whispered to herself. Then her phone lit up and Derek's started to ring. Derek pulled out his phone and saw that it was Spencer that was calling him. Derek looked surprised. "I know!" Spencer smiled. "It's awesome, right?" Derek just smiled at how excited that she was about it. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He only shrugged. "Say something."

"Why hasn't anyone told you about this? Like your mom?" Spencer groaned.

"I don't even want to think about that."

"Okay, what about your friends?"

"Another thing I don't wanna talk about." Spencer said, honestly.

"So what do you wanna talk about?" Derek asked. Spencer bit her lip and looked down at her hands.

"I wanna talk about…why you left the other day?" He looked confused. "After we, uh…kissed." Derek didn't say anything. "Did you wolf out or…what?"

"No, I didn't "wolf out."" He laughed at her. "Well, completely. My instincts got a little ahead of me, but that's not why I left." He waited for him to continue. "I panicked. Once you said that you weren't ready, I got the feeling that I pushed you." Spencer smiled.

"You didn't push me." she said shaking her head. "I kissed you first, remember? You didn't push me into anything. I wanted to kiss you." she admitted. "I didn't know what happened. One minute I was ready to be with Stiles and then I saw you and you kept popping up. I can't explain it." She looked away from Derek. "But there is one thing that I need to know." She didn't look up from her hands. "Do you think that it can happen again? Me kissing you, I mean?" Derek laughed

"Are you asking for permission?" Spencer slowly nodded her head, looking up through her eyelashes. "Shouldn't I be asking you? You are underage." He said, with a smirk.

"Only by a little bit. But I really like you. I don't know how it happened so fast, but I just do." Derek nodded.

"I know what you mean."

"So…" Spencer trailed off. Derek didn't say anything or hint that he would want it either way. So Spencer took initiative. She moved up on her knees and kneeled beside Derek to be just as tall as he was. She turned his head to face her, her hand on his cheek and his eyes closed. He enjoyed her touch and her scent. He took it in. She leaned forward placing her forehead on his. He took a big breath of her and couldn't resist anymore. He grabbed her waist and moved her to straddle him. She laughed. "I'm gonna take that as a yes?" She smiled. He opened his eyes and they were a striking, electric blue. At first, she was a little taken aback and scared, but she thought again how he wouldn't hurt her. She leaned in to kiss him deeply.

* * *

You guys can honestly tell me if this is getting stupid or not. I would prefer you tell me now so i can scrap this idea and go somewhere else.


	17. S I X T E E N

Derek and Spencer woke up too early the next morning. Spencer decided that she should go to school. She didn't want to. She really didn't want to hear what Stiles had to say to her. However, she had to talking to her best friends about what she had found out in the book. Derek watched her as she did her hair, making it into long red waves. He didn't know where she had come from. It was like she had popped out of a box shipped directly to him, for him.

"I can feel you staring at me, you know?" Spencer called from her bathroom. She came out with her hair still wrapped around a curling iron. "It's this creepy feeling you get when someone is watching you." she smiled at Derek, who looked like he almost blushed. He looked away from her.

"You sure about going to school today?" he asked her. She nodded, turning around to face the mirror and unwrap her hair.

"I gotta go. I can't miss too many days. I've already skipped out two days, this week alone. I hate feeling like I'm missing something." Spencer came out of the bathroom, finger-brushing through her hair to loosen up the curls. "You'll take me to school, right?" Derek nodded to her.

"I've gotta stop by my house first though." Spencer laughed.

"What? Did you leave your oven on or something?" she asked, jokingly. "Is your oven still even standing?" Derek shrugged his shoulders.

"I get take-out." Spencer smiled and shook her head at him. She crossed the room and stood in front of him, putting her arms around his neck.

"Let me cook something for you. Tomorrow night though. I have to go to the game tonight. I have to go to Scott's game tonight." Derek shook his head.

"You really don't have to." He told her.

"I want to. I actually sorta like cooking. And I don't have to do all the work. You can help me." She smiled to him. "If you wanna…"

"Alright." Derek agreed. "But this game…" he started. "I'm not sure that you should go." Spencer furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why?" Spencer stepped away from him.

"I can't stop Scott from playing. If something goes wrong, gets him angry, things could get pretty ugly."

"I have to go, Derek. He's my best friend. I gotta support him." She thought. "You can come, too! That way if something does go wrong, we can stop him." She went to pick up her backpack. "Besides, I trust Scott. I know he won't hurt me even if he's just started to change."

"Why do you trust us so much?" Derek asked, standing up from Spencer's bed. Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe it has something to do with my family. Like part of my already knows what you guys are like and what you guys can do. That's why I might have taken it so well. Because I know what's already out there. I can't really explain it, but really our lives are just weird." Derek nodded in response, agreeing. "Alright, let's go." Spencer smiled. She walked out of her room and house, locking the door behind her. She noticed that she didn't see Derek's car. "Where did you park your car?" Derek smirked, and went to lift the garage door.

"I picked the lock."

"I shoulda known." Spencer said. She climbed into Derek's car and the two drove to his house. Derek was driving fast as always. Spencer smiled, enjoying the silence between them. It got a little bumpy when they were driving through the woods so Derek slowed down a bit. He pulled up to the house and opened his door. Spencer opened her door to go with him, but he stopped her.

"Just stay here." He said, sternly. "I'll be right back." Spencer looked away a little disappointed, but nodded. He quickly walked inside, looking around the house, checking to see if anything was different. He disappeared into the house. Spencer pulled out her phone. She wanted to see if she could text the same way that she could call. She thought about a text that she wanted to send to Scott and her phone lit up showing the text was sending. She smiled to herself.

**"Hey, what's going on?"** The text said. She waited a minute before her phone chimed with a text message.

**"Nothing just taking a walk on the reserve."** He responded.

**"No way. I'm here. Waiting for Derek." **

**"Crap. Spence, I'm sorry."** Spencer had to read the message a second time to make sure she had read it right.

**"Sorry for what?"** There was no response from Scott. But a minute later, Spencer heard the faint sound of sirens. She stepped out of the car and they began to get louder. She looked off into the woods and saw the glow of sirens headed towards Derek's house.

"Shit." she said out loud. "Derek." She whispered, trying to get his attention. Her phone buzzed in her hand with a text message from Derek.

**"Hide."** She looked back up to the window to see him just standing there. He wasn't running or anything. Her phone buzzed again. **"Now."** She straightened up her face and nodded back to him. She ran to hide behind a few trees. An ambulance pulled up followed by Sheriff Stilinski's patrol car and another police car.

"Aw, man." She said to herself as the Sheriff and another officer push themselves into the Hale House armed and ready to shoot. She looked to the side and noticed Scott standing at Stiles' Jeep. She narrowed her eyes and marched over to him. He noticed her and was about to run away, but Spencer yelled at him. "Scott McCall! Don't you dare run away from me." she said forcefully. He stayed where he was, and sighed, defeated.

"Hey, Spencer." He said.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Spencer demanded.

"Uh, I told you. Just taking a walk." He leaned against the Jeep. Spencer looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh, yeah? With Stiles' car?" Spencer asked as Scott stood up straight looking back at the Jeep.

"Holy –" he faked. "When did that get there?"

"Nice try, Scott. Where is he?" Stiles looked around Spencer to see the house. Spencer turned as well. The two saw a cop coming out of the house with Derek in handcuffs. Spencer's heart broke. She turned back to Scott. "What did you do?" Scott didn't know how to answer her question. "Scott, tell me right now! Why are they arresting Derek?"

Scott sighed. "We found the other half of the body. Here. On his property. It's proof that he killed the girl."

Spencer's eyes went wide. "No." Spencer whispered. "Scott, he didn't kill her."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Maybe I don't have proof. But I know he didn't kill her. I can't explain it, but I know he didn't, Scott." Scott looked passed Spencer again.

"No." He whispered. Spencer quickly whipped herself around to see Stiles heading towards his father's patrol car that Derek was sitting in the back of. Spencer groaned. She watched as Stiles got in the front seat.

"Let me guess." She said to Scott. "This was his idea?" Scott didn't say anything. He just gave Spencer a look and she knew the answer. She pursed her lips and turned. She jogged to the car grabbed Stiles and pulled him out of the patrol car. She pushed him against the car. "Why did you do that?!" She screamed at Stiles. "You just had to go digging. Literally."

"He could hurt you, Spencer! I'm doing this for you!" He shouted at her.

"He didn't do it!" She punched him in the face. She pulled away her fist hurting just a little. A second after, Sheriff Stilinski's hand was around her arm, and another officer had grabbed ahold of Stiles. Spencer fought against the Sheriff.

"Alright, you two. That's enough." The Sheriff told them, but that didn't stop Spencer from continuing to try to get out of his grasp. She wanted to hit him again. "Spencer, stop!" The Sheriff shouted. Spencer took a deep breath, but stopped fighting.

"He did this just to get back at me!" Spencer shouted, blaming Stiles.

"Dad, come on. I wouldn't do this on purpose. We just came across it." Stiles reasoned.

"Liar!"

"Now, hold on a minute." The sheriff calmed. Spencer sighed. The Sheriff continued. "Alright, now how did you come across it?"

Stiles sighed. "We were looking for Scott's inhaler.

"Which he dropped when?"

"The other night."

Spencer laughed. "You mean the other night when we were out here looking for the first half of the body?"

"Yes."

"You mean," Sheriff started. "That night that you told me that you two were alone and Scott was at home?"

"Yes." Stiles answered. Then he realized. "No!" But it was too late. "Oh, crap."

"So you lied to me." The sheriff didn't ask since he already knew the answer. Spencer was grinning. He couldn't weasel his way out of his one.

"That depends on how you define lying." Stiles explained to his father.

"Well, I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?"

"Reclining your body in a horizontal position?" Stiles said warily. Sheriff shook his head at his son.

"Get the hell out of here."

"Absolutely." Stiles said. As soon as the other deputy let him go he booked it back to the car.

"Wait for Spencer!" The Sheriff called to his son. Spencer and the Sheriff could hear Stiles grumble from where they were. The man turned back to Spencer. "Would you mind explaining what this was about?" he asked her.

"Derek, didn't do it. He –" Spencer replied.

"Do you have proof?"

Spencer stumbled for her next words. "N-no, but I'm sure that he didn't do it."

The sheriff sighed. "Spencer, I'm sorry. I have to take him in. All the evidence points to him." He looked to the back to see Derek staring just straight forward. "Does your mother know that you are hanging out with a man four years older than you?"

Spencer straightened herself up. "Of course, she does. That doesn't matter though. Papa Stiles. Please." Spencer begged. "He didn't do it."

The sheriff shook his head. "Spencer, I'm sorry." Spencer hung her head, then looked to Derek.

"Can I get just five minutes with him? You can stand right there. Listen in. I'll sit in the front." Spencer asked. The sheriff debated. "All I wanna do is talk."

The sheriff sighed and went to open the passenger side door. "Five minutes." He said.

"Thank you." Spencer said, sitting down into the seat.

"Spencer –" Derek started but Spencer interrupted him.

"Don't say anything. I read my book a little last night while you were asleep. I found something. Lean forward. Put your head on the grate."

"Wh –"

"Trust me." Spencer said, between her teeth. Derek leaned forward until his head reached the cold metal. "Now, I'm going to touch your forehead. When I ask you a question, don't say anything. Just think it and I'll know your answer. They can't use anything against you that they didn't hear."

"Will it work?" Derek questioned, really not sure.

"If I'm a witch, I have no doubt that it will." Spencer nodded her head. "Are you ready?" Derek thought.

_"Yes."_ Spencer jumped back, having just heard Derek's voice in her own head.

"Crap. Okay." She said. "It works." She took a deep breath. "Did you kill the girl?"

_"No." _

Spencer sighed in relief. "I knew it. Okay, do you know who did?"

_"Not for sure. I don't know who he is, but I know what he is."_

"Is he…" she started, looking up at the Sheriff, who was talking with one of his coworkers. "…like you?"

_"Yes."_

"Do you know who the girl is?"

_"Yes."_ Derek thought.

"Will you tell me?"

_"No."_ Derek thought. Spencer looked upset. _"I can't. I can't make myself vulnerable again. You have to trust me." _

Spencer nodded. "I do. I do trust you. And we'll get you out of there. I promise. If I have to do something or if they clear your name. I won't spend the rest of my life kissing you through iron bars." Spencer laughed. She looked back at the Sheriff who was coming their way. Spencer climbed out of the car.

"Time's up, Spencer." The Sheriff said.

"I know." She hugged the sheriff. "Thank you." She pulled away. "Promise me that you will do everything possible to prove his innocence. I know that he didn't do it."

The sheriff nodded. "I'll do my best. Now you guys have to get to school."

Spencer agreed. She walked to Derek's car to get her backpack out of it. She jogged over to Stiles' Jeep. She opened the trunk and sat in it with her back against the passenger side seat that Scott was sitting in.

"Thanks for the punch, Spence." Stiles said, cheekily.

"Thanks for throwing an innocent man in jail, Stiles." Spencer said, with anger clearly written in her voice.

"What makes you think that he's innocent?"

"I just know, okay."

"Alright. Can the two of you stop fighting for just a minute?" Scott asked, over his friends voices. Spencer turned her head to glare at Stiles, who turned his head back forward to start driving. "I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial."

"Just keep looking." Stiles told his friend. Spencer sat in the back and took her family book out of her backpack. She vaguely remembered reading something about wolfsbane in it last night. "Maybe it's like a ritual or something, like maybe they bury you a wolf. Or maybe it's like a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn."

"I've got it." Spencer said aloud, turning around to face the boys. Scott looked back at her seeing her with an old brown book sitting in her lap.

"Where did you get that?"

"It's a family heirloom." She said, sarcastically. "Now, do you wanna hear what it says or not?" The boys didn't respond. They just waited for her to continue. "Very well then. _Tradition says that upon burial, Wolfsbane is used to protect the supernatural version of the werewolf. When buried around a wolf, in the shape of the family's symbol, it keeps the wolf in its unnatural form. However, if the werewolf is still alive when in the presence of Wolfsbane, it will force them to change._ When you first found that half, was it wolf or human?"

"It was wolf." Stiles answered. "Then I found the plant and pulled on it. There was a rope attached to it and it spiraled around her grave. When we looked back, it was human."

"Alright that makes sense, then. You disturbed the wolfsbane. You took it out of its shape that was keeping the girl in wolf form. We have to find out who she is…I mean, was." Spencer said, rubbing her forehead, which hurt. She was confused thought because she thought that since she had figured things out, her pain would go away.

"Great." Scott said. "I'll put it on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight." Spencer flipped another page in her book.

She talked out loud to herself. "Maybe it's different for girl werewolves." She sniffed, smelling something different than she had a second ago.

"Okay! Stop it!" Scott shouted.

"Stop what?" Stiles questioned.

"Stop saying 'werewolves'! Stop enjoying this so much."

"We're not enjoying this, Scott." Spencer reasoned. "We're trying to help you figure this out. Are you okay?" She asked.

"No!" He answered. "No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay."

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, sooner or later." Stiles told him, honestly. Scott's hands banged on the roof of the car.

"I can't!"

"We'll you're gonna have to!"

"No! I can't breathe!" Scott screamed, banging the car again.

"Whoa!" Stiles shouted, swerving on the road.

"Pull over!" Scott demanded.

"Scott, just calm down." Spencer soothed. Spencer reached over, seeing Stiles' backpack sitting next to her in the back. She opened it and saw the blue flower along with all the rope. She brought her face closer to it, realizing that was the strange smell she had encountered. "Stiles, you kept it!?"

"What was I supposed to do with it? I couldn't just leave it there?"

"Stiles, it's poisonous to him. It could kill him!" Spencer yelled.

"How was I supposed to know that?!" he yelled back in response.

"Stop the car!" Scott shouted, scaring both of his friends as his eyes glowed their werewolf gold color. Stiles hit the brakes and grabbed his backpack. He threw himself out of the car and threw it deep into the forest. As soon as Stiles, got the backpack out of the car, Spencer felt her headache weaken. She was able to get back to herself and she watched as Scott did the same only he just kept running through the trees.

"Scott!" Spencer called after him, getting out of the Jeep. She looked around but couldn't see him. He had gone too far into the forest. Stiles came back, joining Spencer on the other side of his Jeep, looking for Scott.

"He run off?" Stiles asked. Spencer looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Of course he ran off, Stiles!" She yelled at him. "Wolfsbane forces him to change. Did you not listen to what I was reading at all?" Stiles looked away from her. He was hurt by her, still, from what happened with Derek and their break-up.

"I, uh. I couldn't focus on what you were saying." He said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Spencer sighed. "I'm sorry, too." She paused. "For everything."

Stiles nodded. "Are we gonna talk about it now?"

Spencer shook her head. "I can't."

Stiles sighed this time. "Can you at least tell me about the book?"

Spencer thought for a second. She had planned on telling him anyway, but she was hoping to do it with him and Scott together. She nodded. "Let's get in the car though. We can't go to school today. We have to find Scott."

Stiles nodded agreeing as the two of them climbed in the Jeep.


	18. S E V E N T E E N

Stiles drove quickly through the twists and turns of the back roads. Spencer did everything that she could not to slide around in the passenger seat. "Stiles?" she questioned. "Is there any way you could, I don't know, slow down?"

"No, can do." He replied. "Gotta find Scott."

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure you could do that at a slower pace."

"And let someone else find him all wolfed out and call animal control. Or – or the FBI or some other secret government association. Hell no."

"Well, maybe that's it. Why don't you call the station? Maybe someone has seen him and called it in." She thought. "Worse comes to worse, someone says it was a mountain lion."

"Gah!" Stiles exclaimed. "Genius. You're perfect." Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, uh, great idea." Spencer laughed as Stiles lost his words. He took out his phone and dialed the number.

"Beacon Hills Sheriff Department. What's your emergency?" Spencer stared at Stiles. The phone was held up to her ear, but she heard the lady on the other line clear as day. She furrowed her brow.

"Yeah, it's Stiles." He said, urgently.

"Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch when I'm on duty."

"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls?"

"Odd how?" the lady, asked sounded a little annoyed.

"Uh," Stiles thought. "Like an odd person or a dog-like individual roaming the streets."

"I'm hanging up on you now."

"No! Wait, wait, wait!" he shouted into the phone.

"Good bye." Dispatch said, before hanging up with a click.

"God!" Stiles shouted before throwing the phone at Spencer.

"Hey!" Watch it. Person here." She exclaimed. Stiles gave her an apologetic look. "Was that on speaker phone?"

"No. Why?"

Spencer sighed. "I just figured out another one of my abilities." She reached in her back for the book. She flipped through it.

"Abilities?" Stiles questioned, still frantically looking left and right for Scott. "Now would be a perfect time to tell me what's going on."

Spencer sighed. "I was hoping to tell you and Scott at the same time. Save myself another explanation. Oh, well. Shortly, I'm a witch." Spencer said, flipping her page. "Urgh, where is it?"

"You're a what?"

Spencer shook her head, impatiently. "A witch."

"Well, you can be mean sometimes, but I wouldn't go that far."

"Stiles!"

"Alright, alright. You're a witch? Like magic, wand waving. Cauldrons and dragons."

"Well probably just the magic part."

"How do you know?"

Spencer rolled her eyes and took her hands away from the book. "I want to find the Companions page." Spencer told the book. The pages began to turn on their own quickly as if the wind was blowing through them. Stiles took his eyes off the road to watch the book's pages turn. Spencer noticed the ground get bumpier and looked up to see Stiles swerving and heading straight for a tree. Spencer gasped. "Stiles!" she held her palm out to the steering wheel. The car moved itself back onto the road, right before hitting the tree. Stiles' hands were on his head, attempting to shield himself from the oncoming crash. He opened his eyes to the steering wheel moving on its own.

"Holy…" Stiles said, aloud.

"You believe me now?" Spencer joked, smiling. Stiles smiled back.

"That is so cool."

Spencer felt a pain start to sting her brain. She groaned. "Take it back." Stiles put his hands down and so did Spencer with a sigh of relief. She put her cool hand on her forehead.

"Hey, you alright?" she nodded at Stiles' question. "Don't push yourself too hard. Maybe it's a thing you have to strengthen." Stiles looked at Spencer cradling her head. He wanted more than anything to get her back. He was gonna fight for her. He wasn't afraid of Derek. But then again, Derek was older than him. Stronger than him. Not to mention slightly more attractive. "Hey…" he started. Spencer turned her head to him. "I got an idea. Why don't we skip school again? Go back to my place, order a pizza, and study that thing." He gestured to her book. Spencer looked up at him, just staring for a moment.

"You should hate me." She admitted, looking back to her book. "And I know you got revenge by getting him arrested, but I did just punch you in the face."

Stiles laughed, "Yeah, you did. You gotta pretty good arm, too." Spencer laughed. "But honestly, Spencer, I don't think I could hate you if I tried." Spencer showed him a small smile.

"Thanks." Spencer said. Stiles nodded. He drove quickly back to his house, still trying to search for Scott, but he figured it was a long shot. When the two got to his house, Stiles went to call for the pizza and Spencer went for the fridge. "Stiles! There's no soda! Order a liter!" she screamed to him.

"Alright!" Spencer took her book out of her backpack and opened to the page she was looking at in the car. She hadn't read much into it, before Stiles came into the kitchen to join her. She looked up at him.

"Can I ask you something?"

Stiles nodded. "Shoot."

"Did you arrest Derek to get back at me? Was that your main goal behind that?"

Stiles gulped, "No. No, of course not. Scott smelled out the body. Found it on Derek's property. We had him arrested because we were worried about you. It wasn't to get back at you for kissing him and leaving me."

"In fairness, I didn't leave you. We just stopped being together." Stiles nodded again. There was a silence amongst the friends for a moment. Spencer looked back at her book and something caught her eyes. "He didn't do it, you know."

"How could you know that for sure?" Stiles asked. Spencer didn't answer. She was too into reading what she had just found. "Spencer?"

"What?" She looked up from the book, almost annoyed at him for interrupting her thoughts.

"Why do you believe him? How can you be so sure that any of what he's telling you is truth?"

"I'm his helper." She said, confidently, then looking back to her book.

Stiles nodded, sarcastically, but still not understanding. "And what the hell does that mean?"

Spencer groaned. "Here, listen._ 'In order for the helper to be useful it is impossible for their supernatural counterparts to lie to them. The helpers should also be aware that they will begin to show characteristics of their companion.'_"

"Maybe that's why you could hear dispatch?" Stiles guessed, shrugging his shoulders.

Spencer nodded. "I also smelled the wolfsbane. Gave me a headache like you wouldn't believe."

"Okay. That's a little creepy."

"Stiles!" Spencer yelled, hitting his chest. "I know! I know I'm a freak, okay? This is just like with Scott. I didn't ask for this. Could you be a little gentler about it?" She looked down at the book.

"Spencer, you know I didn't mean it like that. I get it. It's hard for you. But I can't help but see that you're enjoying it. At least a little bit."

Spencer bit her lip. "It's how I can help Derek." She said. "I know you don't like him. I know you don't trust him. But I do. You and him both mean a lot to me."

"He just means more."

Spencer furrowed her brow, and turned her body towards him. "No, Stiles. Not at all. You're my best friend. He's just a guy. I've known you my whole life. I just met him. You'll always come first."

Stiles smiled. "Now that's what I like to hear." He said, cockily. Spencer shook her head at him. The doorbell rang. "So, pizza?" Spencer smiled and nodded. Stiles went to go answer the door and get the pizza. Spencer opened her book to the witch section. She read from the beginning. Maybe that would help get rid of the headaches when she used her powers. Stiles came into the kitchen with the box of pizza and the soda. "You find anything?" he asked, setting the pizza down on the table.

"Lessons." Spencer groaned. "Apparently, I can' just go crazy with my powers. I have to learn how to do certain things before others. Then I won't get headaches like I did with the car. Maybe it was just too much to control." Spencer pushed the book away. "As if school wasn't enough. This would be so much easier if my dad could remember. He could help me."

"So this is a family thing?" Stiles asked. Spencer nodded. "You don't think this is how your dad got the way he is, do you?"

Spencer furrowed her brow. "No. I think my mom said it was a car crash."

"Yeah and that's what they told Harry Potter." Stiles said. Spencer glared at him.

"Stiles, this isn't a movie. It's real."

"It was a book, too." Spencer stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Okay, not funny."

"My dad is smart. He never woulda got himself killed. If he was even involved in any of this. I would imagine it'd be harder for men to help. They don't change like I am."

"That's weird."

"Tell me about it."

"It's also sexist." Spencer slapped his chest.

"Stiles! That is my family you're talking about. It's our gift. Don't mock it."

"I'm not. I'm just saying. It must be hard for you with all this crap to deal with. But I'll help you. Like I help Scott."

Spencer smiled. She opened the pizza box and took out a slice careful not to drop grease on the book. Stiles stole the book away from her, closing it up and putting it in her backpack. "Stiles!"

Stiles shook his head. "Spencer, you need to stop worrying about this stuff. Today we are going to set aside the supernatural and have a day to ourselves. We'll play video games, watch movies, and wait for Scott to come around."

Spencer nodded, and finished chewing a bit of her pizza before speaking. "You don't think we shoulda kept looking? I mean Scott could be dangerous."

"Nah, I'm sure he's fine."

"Stiles, he just found out he's a freaking werewolf. He can't control it. What if he hurts somebody?"

"Spence, we said we weren't going to talk about this." Spencer groaned.

"You can't just let this go."

"Well, you will."

Spencer gave in, nodding. "So are you gonna play tonight?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, but I think my Dad's coming. And Allison. And Scott's mom."

"So in other words, if he wolfs-out on the field, everyone is gonna see it." Stiles nodded, confirming her theory. "Awesome."

"Alright. Now I'm serious. No more talk of this. We'll deal with it later. Until the game, you and I are going to be normal."

* * *

Stiles had to leave a little bit early to get to the school so he could get ready for the game. Spencer decided to wait around for the sheriff. She went up to Stiles' room and just looked around.

Only a few days ago, she had been sleeping with Stiles here. Curled up to him. Kissing him. She was infatuated with Stiles. Then Derek happened. And he just kept popping up. He charmed her. She was angry by it. She was angry at herself for how she went about everything. Stiles wasn't making it any better by being so nice to her. She wanted him to yell at her. To hate her. To never want to see her again. Most of all she wanted him to tell her what a horrible person that she was. Now, it didn't even matter. He's locked away in a cell. No one will believe her when she says that he didn't do it. Not to mention the secret she's keeping about herself. The secret that she can't talk to anyone about but her two best friends, one of which happens to be MIA. She couldn't talk to her dad, the only one who would help her.

She curled up into Stiles' bed, and pulled the covers over her. She closed her eyes, letting a tear escape her eye.

"Hey, bud. I thought you had a game tonight. I was just coming home to grab a bite to eat." Spencer heard. The voice startled her and she shot up in the bed, wiping the tear away quickly. "Oh, Spencer. Are you okay?"

Spencer nodded. "I'm just tired. I thought I could squeeze in a nap before you got home. Stiles said you would drive me to the game."

"I can do that." Sheriff told her. He looked at her warily. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Spencer nodded again. "You don't need to play Papa Stiles right now. I'm okay."

The Sheriff smiled and nodded. "You wanna get going?"

Spencer nodded and pushed herself out of her friend's bed, into the chill of the cold room. She followed quietly behind the sheriff to his cruiser, grabbing her backpack, with her family book in it, from the kitchen, still not saying anything as he started to drive towards the school. Spencer stared out the car window. She didn't want to talk, but she had to ask.

"Did you find anything to prove Derek's innocence?"

The sheriff looked at her for a brief moment before looking back to the road. "I can't –"

"Talk to me about it. I know. I guess I was just hoping…" Spence trailed off, looking back to the window. The sheriff sighed.

"We're doing our best, Spencer. But he is our only lead. You know, I can' help but think that it was him."

"It wasn't."

"Evidence points to him. Stiles found the girl's body on Hale's property."

"It could have been planted on his property by someone else who wanted to frame him." She said, turning her head towards him. "I know he didn't do it. He couldn't have done it." She said quietly.

"Spencer, I can't just trust your judgment." He said, seriously. "And I'm not sure you should be hanging around with someone who has even been accused of murdering a young girl."

"Allegedly murdering a young girl. Don't believe me all you want, but he didn't do it." Spencer stressed. The two remained silent for the rest of the car ride. A single tear fell from her face. She wanted to tell the sheriff. She wished she could tell someone useful how she knew Derek didn't do it. She wanted more than anything to help get Derek out of that cell. When they got to the school, Sheriff put the car in park and sighed.

"I don't know what's going on with you and Hale. Really it's none of my business, but when I have to arrest him, I'm gonna make it my business. And for two seconds I thought you and Stiles were…" Sheriff trailed off. Spencer felt bad that he had brought that up. "I just, I don't like seeing either of you getting hurt. You're like a daughter to me, Spencer. I worry about you. I know exactly what's going on at home. I know that your mom isn't always around trying to take care of your father. I know you do a lot of running away to my house. You try to hide it. You don't need to. I understand things are hard, and if you want, we can talk to your mom about moving in to our house." Spencer turned to look at him, shock on her face.

"Are you serious?" she said with a smile.

"Well, yeah." He said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "You're around enough anyway."

"Where will I stay?"

"There's a room upstairs full of stuff we haven't gone through in years. If you and Stiles help me by clearing it out, we'll talk to your mom." Spencer couldn't help but smile, but she still had to think about it.

"Can I talk to Stiles about it? I'd like to make sure that he's okay with it."

"Take as long as you need. We'll figure something out." The sheriff told her. Spencer smiled. She leaned over the center of the car to hug him.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." Spencer said, almost on the verge of tears. The sheriff didn't know what to do at first, mainly out of surprise. But then he quickly, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It'll take a lot of weight off." The sheriff nodded into her shoulder and pulled away from the red head. "Thanks, Papa Stiles." Spencer could tell instantly that he wasn't about all the lovey-dovey stuff. He was beginning to get a little nervous. She knew where Stiles got it from, how he would sometimes get a little shifty. She smiled. "Alright, I get it. Let's go watch some lacrosse. You need a dose of testosterone." Spencer joked. Sheriff nodded and the two got out of the car. They walked down to the field. Stiles was sitting on the bench to himself. Spencer followed the sheriff down to the bench. The man put a hand on Stiles' shoulder. Stiles turned around almost scared.

"Hey, kid." He said.

"Dad, hey!" Stiles said, his eyes looked to Spencer. She nodded a hello.

"So, do you think you'll see any action tonight?" his father asked. Stiles' eyes flickered between Spencer and his father. Spencer looked down at her feet, really not knowing what to say. She looked quickly to the field and saw Scott out there warming up. Breath caught in her throat and she shook it off with a cough.

"Action? Maybe." Stiles suggested, thinking the same thing that Spencer was. There definitely could be some action that night, but it definitely would not be had by Stiles. Scott was a different story. Sheriff excused himself from the conversation and went to sit on the bleachers. Spencer sat herself down next to Stiles on the bench.

"Did you talk to him?" she asked. Stiles nodded. "And?"

"He's freaking out. I tried to help him not think about things, but I might have only made it worse." Stiles admitted. Spencer groaned. She pulled her backpack from around her shoulder.

"Maybe I can find something in the book." She suggested.

"Here? You wanna take a big leathery book that belongs in the 13th century out in front of a lacrosse game full of high school kids? Does that sound like a smart idea to you?"

Spencer thought, shaking her head. "No, but I might be able to change it." She stuck her hand in the bag and placed it on the book. She imagined a spiral notebook in her mind, and immediately felt that the book was moving, changing. She took it out and smirked to her friend. She opened it and flipped to a section about emotions. She groaned. She was supposed to learn that lesson yet. It was far too advanced for her to try now. She didn't care. She showed the book to Stiles. He gave her a questioning look realizing how hard that would be for her. Spencer nodded. "I can do it." Stiles nodded, taking her word for it. "Scott." His head turned slightly towards her. "There can be something that I can do to help, but still try your best to keep your heart rate low." Scott nodded.

"This isn't going to be easy on you, is it?" Stiles asked.

"Not by a long shot, but if he shifts on that field, we're all dead." Spencer whispered.


	19. E I G H T E E N

The whistle sounded signaling the beginning of the lacrosse game. Spencer had her book in her lap, reading, in her head, an incantation that could make controlling Scott's emotions easier. Stiles had his elbows on his knees, chewing on his glove. Spencer had noticed this was something he did when he was nervous.

"We'll be fine, Stiles." Spencer tried calming him. Stiles looked to her quickly then went back to the game.

"It's not him I'm worried about." He responded. Spencer looked at him confused. Stiles shook his head. "Are you sure that you can handle this? I mean, you got light-headed trying to…" his voice got soft, "trying to control my car. From what I remember of that book, object control was lesson three. Emotion control is ten."

"Relax, Stiles. I can do this." She reassured him. "I have to do this." She told herself. She turned to the field as the players were lined up. The whistle blew and the ball dropped. Jackson fought for the ball and achieved his goal. He ran towards the other team's net. Scott desperately tried to get someone to toss him the ball, only no one would. Finally, he saw the ball lying on the ground, unmanned. He went for it. Spencer kept repeating the incantation in her head, trying to focus directly on Scott. She got a little distracted, though, when Jackson rammed into Scott, purposefully, taking the ball and the goal for himself. Spencer stood up, dropping the book to the ground. "Jackson! You twit!" She looked back at the stands and saw everyone cheering, completely ignoring what happened with Scott. The look on his mom's face told Spencer that she was probably the only other one who had seen it.

"That's it, Jackson!" The Coach called, congratulating Jackson on his goal. "Get fired up!" He passed right in front of Spencer and Stiles on the bench. Spencer sat back down, grabbed her book and looked to the stands again. Lydia and Allison were cheering. The next thing she saw made Spencer groan. She hit Stiles on the arm. He turned to face the crowd. The girls were holding up a sign that said, "We luv u, Jackson." The text speak on the sign alone made Spencer gag. The two turned back to the field seeing Scott catch glimpse of the sigh.

"Brutal." Stiles admitted. Spencer noticed his shoulders huff in anger.

"Scott, calm down. It's just a sign." He still glared, obviously not listening to his friend. "This won't work unless you really try. This isn't trying." Scott huffed again. Spencer and Stiles could tell that he was still majorly upset over the sign.

"Oh, this is not gonna be good." Stiles said, aloud. Spencer's eyes scanned the field. The rest of the team (all but Scott) were gathered together.

"Yeah, definitely not." Spencer agreed, pointing out the rest of the team. Spencer knew Scott was listening. She knew it wasn't good. "Stiles, he's doing it. He's letting his emotions take over. He's changing." Spencer panicked.

"Okay, uh…" Stiles thought for a brief second. "Say it out loud." He ordered.

"With all these people around? No way!"

"Just whisper them. Words are very powerful when spoken aloud."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Didn't you ever read Percy Jackson?"

"Dang, Stiles, you have got to stop comparing life to a book or movie." Spencer moved to find Scott on the field. "Besides, it was the name that had power. Not just a word." She didn't take her eyes off of the field. Stiles smirked at her.

"You're a nerd in disguise, you know that?" Stiles told her. Spencer shrugged her shoulders and began to whisper the incantation quickly and repeatedly to herself. After getting through half of the second time, her brain began to pound against her skull. She groaned. Stiles noticed and put a hand on her arm for comfort. She kept saying it aloud, which only ended up making her head hurt more. "Spencer, stop." Stiles said, suddenly and urgently.

"No, I've gotta do this. I can do this."

"Spencer, no. Stop now." She didn't Stiles turned away from Spencer to his other teammates. "Can someone pass me a towel?" he asked. Someone made a joke about why he would need one: he doesn't play. He ended up with a towel anyway. "Damn it, Spencer, stop! Your nose is bleeding." Spencer stopped reading, per her friend's request and brought a hand to her face. When the hand came down there was blood on it. Stiles held a towel out to her. She took it and held it up to her face. "You are not doing that anymore." Stiles ordered his friend. Spencer scoffed.

"If I don't, Scott will shift." Spencer's words were a bit muffled by the towel.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself."

"Stiles, it doesn't hurt. It's just a bloody nose. My headaches aren't completely unbearable." Stiles quickly reached over and stole the notebook.

"No," Stiles said, when Spencer tried to grab back for it. "You're not gonna do it, Spencer." The two had a stare down for a moment before the referee blew the whistle signaling a lineup. Scott was hunched over. Even if Spencer didn't feel the change in his emotions, she knew he had changed a little. He was breathing heavily; the cold had made his breath show. Spencer took the towel away from her face. The bleeding had stopped. The coach was standing just to the right of them. He turned his head, looking at the players that he had on the bench. He caught Spencer's eye.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Coach, it's me. Spencer Garner. I'm in your fourth period." She said, obviously.

"I knew that." The coach lied. "What are you doing on my bench?"

"Uh," Spencer thought. "I have terrible eye sight. I can't see from the stands."

The Coach nodded. "You should look into getting glasses." He advised.

"I definitely will, Coach." Spencer sighed when the coach turned back to the game.

Stiles leaned over to whisper to her. "You have perfect eye sight."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't know that." Spencer reasoned. Stiles nodded his head in approval. Turning back to the game, they saw a referee stop at Scott. Scott nodded his head.

"I wonder what that was about."

"I don't wanna know." Spencer admitted to Stiles. "He's lucky Scott didn't bite his head off." The referee continued to the middle of the field. Players fought for the ball before it was tossed high in the air. Scott went for it, literally jumping over a player from the other team to catch it. He ran for the goal effortlessly; no one could even touch him before he threw the ball in the net. Stiles and Spencer jumped out of their seats, cheering for their friend.

"McCall!" Coach shouted to his team. "Pass to McCall!" Stiles jumped up and down behind the coach repeating his words. Another play started with the other team winning the ball. Their player ran a short distance before tossing the ball directly to Scott. Spencer's mouth dropped open in awe from the bench. Stiles was chewing on his glove again. Coach sat next to Spencer on the bench. "Did the opposing team just deliberately pass us the ball?" Coach asked.

"Yes, Coach. I think they did." Spencer responded, smiling.

"I thought you had bad eye sight?"

Spencer's eyes widened. "Yeah, it, uh, comes and goes." She waved it off. Scott ran with the ball throwing it into the other team's goal. The goalie almost caught it, but instead of stopping it went right through the pocket and into the goal, tying the game. Stiles and Spencer cheered with the coach. Until the other coach came up to argue the goal.

"What?" Coach asked. "The ball's in the net." He pointed out. Stiles stood from the bench to be alongside the coach. "That's the goal of the game. He's got the ball in the net!" Spencer turned her head and saw her notebook laying on the bench. She grabbed it quickly opening to the page about emotions. She said the incantation once aloud to herself. She looked back to the crowd when she felt eyes on her. It was a man looking at her. He had been sitting next to Allison. She swallowed, fearful she had been caught. She quickly stuffed the book back in her bag, abandoning helping Scott. Stiles came back to sit by her when the whistle blew to signify Scott's goal as fair. Spencer bumped Stiles.

"Stiles, who's that man next to Allison?"

"That's her dad, why?"

"He might have caught me witchin' it up." She said, lowly.

Stiles groaned. "That's probably not good, since he's a hunter and all."

"He's a what?" Spencer said, too loudly.

Stiles shushed her. "He's a hunter. A hunter of all things Scott-like." Spencer panicked. "Not to worry. I'm pretty sure their just after the dogs."

"Does Scott know?" Stiles nodded. "Wait, were they the hunters from that night? When Scott and I were caught in the woods?"

"Yup. Mr. Argent shot Scott."

"Holy sh – "

"But Scott doesn't think Allison knows about anything."

"Stiles, it doesn't matter. If the hunting thing he does is anything like my helping thing, it's a family affair." Spencer pointed out. Stiles shrugged, returning his attention to the game. "Stiles, we can't let him do this." He didn't say anything. She was willing to break up Scott and Allison to save Scott from probably being hunted, but she wouldn't leave Derek when he was definitely more dangerous. Spencer groaned at his ignorance. All the players lined up for another play. Possibly the last play with forty seconds left on the clock. The whistle blew. Jackson and another player fought for the drop. It was pushed to the side and Scott caught hold of it. He seemed to space out when he got in front of the goal. Almost as if he didn't know what to do. Spencer hit Stiles' arm. "It's happening." She said, worried. The two stood from the bench.

"No, Scott, no, no." Stiles begged. He couldn't change now. They were so close to the end of the game and a victory. For Spencer everything got suddenly louder. She heard cheers and screams and the slurp of someone drinking a soda, though no one near her had on. She put her hands over her ears, slightly overwhelmed with the loudness. "Spencer?" Stiles questioned. In a moment, it felt almost as if she could hear exactly what Scott heard.

"You can do it, Scott." She heard. She looked around. It was Allison, echoing her own words to cheer him on. Scott was in the middle of two opposing team members and the goal. Spencer was worried he wouldn't focus and make the shot. The two on the sides of Scott began to charge for Scott. He quickly threw the ball, making the shot. Spencer screamed.

"Yes!" Stiles cheered. The two faced each other quickly wrapping their arms around the other. Stiles picked Spencer up in the hug. He put her down in a second, smiling. She felt a little awkward about it, but tried not to show it. People raced passed them onto the field to congratulate the players. Stiles and Spencer stayed back and sat on the bench. She looked to the stands to see Sheriff Stilinski answer his ringing cell phone.

"Oh right." Spencer was reminded. "There was something I wanted to ask you."

Stiles' heart sped up in anticipation. "Shoot."

"Well, I had a talk with your dad earlier. He said that he knew how tough things were over at my place, with my dad and everything. If my mom okayed it, he said that I could move in with you guys."

Stiles smiled. He tried to hold back his real excitement. "Really?"

Spencer nodded. "I told him I wanted to ask you first. I don't want things to be awkward.

"No, definitely no awkwardness. Spence, you're my best friend. No matter what. And it's cool. You practically live with us anyway."

Spencer smiled. "Thanks, Stiles." Stiles nodded leaving a silence between the two.

"Uh huh." The friends turned their head towards the Sheriff. He sounded unsure.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Stiles asked. His father held up a waiting finger. Spencer stood from the bench. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go find Scott."

"He could be wolfed out." Stiles said, moving to his feet. "You're not going alone."

"Stop worrying about me. I can handle myself. I am a witch, after all." She smiled, proudly. "Scott won't hurt me. He didn't the night of the full moon. You stay here. Find out what's with your dad." Stiles still seemed reluctant to let her go, but she did. She walked quickly to the locker rooms. She heard Scott talking with someone.

"Yeah, sorry, I just got kinda light-headed for a sec." Scott said. Spencer sighed in relief, thankful he wasn't wolfed out.

"Maybe it was the adrenaline." It was Allison. Spencer rolled her eyes. "You were pretty amazing out there." Spencer put a finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. She was sure Scott had heard.

"I'm sorry for acting really weird today."

"It's okay." Allison comforted. "I can handle weird." Spencer snuck a peek around the corner of the lockers to see the two in the shower area.

"To be totally honest, you, uh…make me kind of nervous." Scott admitted.

_I'd be nervous, too, if my significant other's family was trying to hunt me._ Spencer thought.

"I do?" Allison inquired.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Kind of, like, really nervous." Allison laughed. "I just…I want to make sure I get my second chance."

"You already have it. I'm just waiting for you to take it." She moved towards Scott.

"Well, maybe I need to learn to take more chances." Scott suggested.

"Maybe you do." Allison agreed. The two were right in front of each other and they kissed. Spencer filled with rage. She couldn't believe Scott would put his life in danger for a girl. Stiles came in, snaking an arm around Spencer's waist. His heart beat sped up with the contact that was almost habit for him, but it felt good. Spencer got the chills, but didn't push away from him. Stiles saw that the two were kissing and grinned proudly. Eventually the two pulled away, Allison walking backwards towards the locker room door.

"Um, I gotta get back to my dad." Spencer and Stiles tried to hide themselves, but ended up tripping over each other. "Stiles." She waved to him.

"Hey, yeah." He said, waving back.

"Spencer, call me tonight?" Allison asked.

Spencer nodded, even though she didn't want to. "Yeah, I'll try."

After Allison disappeared, Scott walked over to his friends. His smile was big, from ear to ear. "I kissed her."

"We saw." Stiles said.

"She kissed me."

"Saw that, too." Stiles nudged Spencer with his next words. "It's pretty good, huh?" Spencer turned away and blushed, embarrassed at the reminder of their own first kiss.

Scott sighed. "I – I don't' know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back. Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad."

"Maybe it's not that bad? Scott, you're dating a hunter's daughter. That's about as bad as it could get." Spencer pointed out. Scott looked to Stiles in disbelief.

"You told her?"

"Yeah, but you should have!" Spencer blurted. "Allison's father caught me doing witchy things."

"Witchy things?" Scott questioned.

"Long story, short." Stiles started. "Spencer's a witch."

"Is that how you helped me?"

"It's how I tried to help you. It was too much form me." Spencer admitted, defeated.

"Yeah." Stiles said. "So, we'll talk later then." Stiles grabbed Spencer's hand and started to pull her towards the exit. Spencer refused.

"Wait, what happened with your dad?" Stiles came back into the circle.

"The, uh medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found." Stiles told them.

"And…?" Scott begged. Spencer was hanging on Stiles' every word. She knew this had something to do with Derek.

"Well, I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek's human, not animal. Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail." Stiles said, reluctantly. Spencer smiled big. She let out a sigh.

"Really?" She said. She wanted to run out right now and go find him, but she knew that it would make Stiles upset after all the progress they had been making.

Scott wasn't so excited. "Are you kidding?"

"Yeah, no." He said to Spencer then Scott. "Here's a bigger kick in the ass. My dad ID'd the dead girl, both halves." He paused. "Her name was Laura Hale." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hale?" Scott asked.

"Derek's sister." Spencer said. Stiles looked at her, confused, but nodded his head. "I don't know how I knew that." She admitted, shaking her head. "Stiles, I gotta go."

"I thought you were staying with me now?" Stiles asked.

Spencer shook her head. "I have to talk to my mom. But, first, I gotta see him."

"Spencer…" Scott protested.

"Guys! His sister is dead!" Spencer argued. "He hasn't told anyone. He hasn't talk about it. Imagine how you would feel." She looked between the boys who didn't say anything. Spencer groaned. "I'll be waiting at the Jeep." She sauntered out alone to the parking lot near the lacrosse field. She bumped into Jackson along the way. Or actually he bumped into her. He had a glove in his hand. He just ignored her and kept walking. Spencer scoffed. "Nice to see you, too, Jackson." She said, sarcastically.

Derek was on the other side of the field by the bleachers. He turned at the sound of Spencer's voice. "Red?" he whispered aloud. Her head turned to face him. His brow furrowed. How had she heard him? He could see her smile from where she was standing. She broke into a run to get close to him and jumped into his arms. Her arms went around his neck and her legs around his hips. He held her around the middle keeping her up. He was rigid at first, not really knowing what to do. Until he found her smell. He buried his face in her neck and hair, catching her scent in a stronger way. Instantly, he relaxed with her wrapped around him.

* * *

Chapter 18 and I just finished episode 2. Seems like this is going to be a long ass story.

I appreciate comments :) In fact I love them. So you guys should leave them or I might not be able to post the next chapter that should be finished by next week.

Enjoy! Thanks for reading.


	20. N I N E T E E N

Derek was shocked at how tight Spencer's grip was on him. Just the other day, she could barely force his head to face her. Now as her arms were wrapped around his neck, it was almost started to hurt. Derek didn't mind, though. For just a moment, he had let his guard down. Derek let himself feel something. What he felt for Spencer in this way, gave his heart the tiniest flutter. As soon as he felt it, his body went rigid. Spencer felt his awkwardness and pulled away, letting him put her down.

"Sorry." Spencer said, looking at her feet. She felt her face blush in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to jump on you like that."

Derek lost his words. It had been so long since he's had to deal with the opposite sex. Even though Spencer was on his side when it came to the werewolf thing, he was still worried that she'd betray him somehow. Derek forced that thought out of his mind and tried to focus on Spencer. He cupped her chin with a hand, and brought her up to look at him. Derek saw hope and embarrassment in her eyes. Spencer sighed, closing her eyes slowly. She liked feeling his touch.

"Let's get you home." Derek grumbled, after a minute. Spencer nodded, agreeing with him. She was tired. It had been a long day. She wanted to grab his hand or arm, just to bring comfort to them both. Derek, though, kept his distance and kept his hands in his jacket pockets. Spencer exhaled all the frustration she had towards him, to keep herself from getting angry. The two moved to opposite sides of Derek's Camaro and got in quickly. Spencer itched with anticipation at the silence between them. Sure, Derek wasn't the most talkative person in the world, but there will still questions and things that needed to be discussed. Spencer bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't know where to start.

"So, Scott, he did pretty good at the game." Spencer boasted. Derek didn't respond. He only kept his eyes forward and a hand on the steering wheel. "I mean, he, uh, didn't kill anyone." Spencer added. Still there was no response. The strawberry blonde grumbled, quietly. "I have super, crazy good hearing." Finally, she got a reaction out of Derek. He turned to her with a wrinkled brow. "It comes and goes. I'm not sure what causes it. But it happened today at the game when he shifted. Also earlier when Stiles had the wolfsbane from your…" Spencer slowed, realizing where her brain was taking her. She quickly said, "house." instead of 'sister's grave.'

Derek grumbled and shrugged back to looking at the road. He had thought started thinking over what Spencer said. Spencer decided that it was a good idea to keep her mouth shut before she said something stupid and upset Derek. The last thing she needed was him driving off as soon as she got out of his car. Spencer was confused. She didn't know what was going on with her. The book was confused. Half the words she couldn't understand; she'd never heard of them before. She was also in disarray when it came to what was going on between her and Derek. They had kissed a few times, and she definitely felt very strongly about him. She was mortified that he could think it was only some benefits thing. Spencer wouldn't give him anything unless she was in some sort of relationship with him.

Derek parked a block from Spencer's house. He kept his hand on the gear shift and the car on. Spencer looked at him, hopefully and quickly moved her gaze down to her hands in her lap.

"So are you gonna come in?" Spencer asked. Derek looked to her, not understanding. "Sneak in?"

"Why?" Derek asked, harshly.

"Why?" Spencer repeated. She was hurt by his question. Spencer's thoughts were jumbled as she tried to piece things together. "Well, I mean, I wanna talk to you." She said, quietly.

"About what?" Derek's retort made Spencer feel angry.

"About what?!" Spencer yelled. "Derek, I watched you get hauled away in a cop car, this morning, for a murder you didn't commit. Things are happening to me that I don't understand, and if you won't help me, the only other person who can, can't even remember my name. And let's not forget you."

"What about me?" Derek growled.

Spencer groaned in frustration. "You – you kiss me, and make me feel things that I didn't feel with Stiles. Now you're acting like none of that mattered. Like I'm just some kid with a crush."

"You are a kid!"

Spencer felt her blood boil and her skin crawl. She breathed, heavily, now that she was steaming mad at Derek. All she saw was red. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and slapped him hard across the face. She expected her hand to be burning with pain, but it wasn't. "I'm not a kid!" Spencer screamed at him. Shortly, her vision refocused and she looked at Derek's face and the damage she had done. Three slashes went from his ear to his nose. They were already starting to heal, but a small amount of blood still trickled from them. Spencer looked down at her hand, bewildered at what just happened. Her nails weren't nails, but claws. She gasped as she watched them change back to her normal black colored nails. Spencer looked back to Derek with fright in her eyes. "What the hell was that?!"

"Me testing a theory."

"What sorta theory?"

Derek didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the clock on his center console. "You should get inside. It's late and your mom's home." Spencer looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you gonna explain to me what's going on?" Spencer asked, but in a way, it sounded like she was demanding.

"I don't know how I can explain when I don't even know." Spencer looked at him and half pouted her bottom lip. Derek sighed. "Leave your window open."

Spencer smiled. "Always." Spencer unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. She paused for a second. "Did you mean what you said? About me being a kid?"

"You are a kid." Derek admitted. Spencer's heart dropped. "But as long as it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me." The girl felt her heart lift back into her chest. Spencer showed Derek a half smile and pushed herself out of the car.

"Sorry for slapping you." she said leaning down to look at him. Derek nodded. He understood. Spencer stood up and slammed the door and walked down the block to her house. It wasn't cold, but a breeze flew by making her shiver. It also gave her a bad feeling, so she walked a little faster. Spencer knew Derek was there, but whether she liked it or not, there could come a time when Derek wasn't there to come to her rescue. She opened the door to her house to see her mom standing in front of all of the pictures in the living rom. Her mom didn't turn. She must not have heard Spencer opened the door.

"Mom." Spencer said. Amy jumped at the sound of her daughter's voice. Amy turned towards Spencer, smiling.

"Hi, Sweetie. Where's your boyfriend? Mr. Hot Stuff."

Spencer groaned. "Derek's not my boyfriend, Mom. We're just friends." Spencer told her, even though she didn't know what they were.

"With benefits?" Spencer's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what just came out of her mother's mouth. Who was the adult here?

"Can you be Serious Mom for a few minutes?" Spencer begged.

Amy nodded. "Sure, babe, what's up?"

"Okay, um, I talked to Sheriff Stilinski today." Amy nodded. "I don't know how he knew or why it came up, but he said, if I wanted, and it was alright with you, that I could move in with him and Stiles." Spencer's mom had on an almost hurt look. "It's just been hard, since Dad's accident. I have about a year and a half left of school and I want to not be stressed out at home. And Dad's been getting worse. I know that you've been at the hospital so much lately, and I know it's my fault. This will be better on Dad, too. You guy can finally have a normal marriage." Spencer stared at her mom, who hadn't said anything or moved from her spot. "Mom?"

"Okay." Amy nodded at her daughter, eyes nearly brimming with tears. "You can move in with them."

"Mom? Are you okay?" Spencer asked, stepping towards her mom.

"I'm okay. I'm just sorry. I know it's been hard, I just never really thought that it affected you so much. I should have paid more attention to you." Amy reached out to hug Spencer, who hugged back. "I am so sorry."

"No, it's fine. I promise. I just don't wanna tip toe around Dad anymore." Spencer said, pulling away. Amy wiped under her eyes and smiled, nodding her head.

"So, what can I help you with?" Amy asked, heading in the direction of Spencer's room. "You wanna get packing? I have some boxes out in the garage."

"Actually, Mom, I'm kinda tired. Maybe tomorrow? And I've got a couple strong friends who can help with the furniture."

"Alright. Tomorrow." Amy smiled and went to hug her daughter again. "I'm so sorry, Spencer. Your dad's accident was a lot to deal with. I never meant to ignore you."

Spencer nodded. She was about to head off to her room, but she stopped. "How did it happen?" Spencer asked her mom. "Dad's accident. I know it wasn't a car crash."

Amy shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. One day, Melissa McCall called me and said that they brought him in during the night. He woke up and couldn't remember anything that happened."

"Oh." Spencer said, finally retreating towards her room. "Night, Mom." She called softly. Amy smiled.

"Good night, Spencer."

Spencer opened the door to her room, expecting to see Derek sitting on her bed, but he wasn't there. Someone had closed her window. She sighed and walked over to it after closing and locking her door. Spencer opened the window and leaned out, looking for Derek. "Derek?" She whispered, knowing he could hear if he was around. "You out there?" she didn't see him, so she sighed and pushed herself off of the window sill. Something grabbed her wrist, though, and held her there. Spencer opened her mouth to scream, but stopped when a hand touched her face, and a pair of lips crashed to her own. Her vision became clear and she saw Derek had appeared in front of her and kissed her. Spencer sighed into the kiss, but hated the half wall that they had between them. She pulled away and let him jump in the window.

"I thought your window was always opened for me." Derek said, smirking, moving around Spencer to stand by her bed.

Spencer shrugged. "My mom must have closed it. She was probably worried with the murder." Derek nodded, the smirk falling off of his face. "Oh, damn. Derek, I'm sorry." She said, walking in front of him. "Sometimes my mouth moves faster than my brain and I never know what I'm gonna blurt out next."

Derek shook his head at her. "It's fine." He said, dismissively.

"No, it's not. That was your sister. Are you okay?"

"Red, I'm fine." Derek assured. "I don't want to think about it. So let's just lie here." Derek said, sitting on her bed, and pulling Spencer so she straddled him.

"This isn't exactly lying." Spencer corrected him, feeling very insecure.

"Well, let's see what we can do like this." Derek dipped his head down and nuzzled into her neck, slowly planting kisses and catching her scent. Spencer let out a shaky breath.

"What about what happened?" She asked, lifting up her chin, making it easier for him. "I scratched you."

"All is forgiven." Derek said, in a muffled voice.

Spencer groaned and pushed herself off of Derek. "Derek, no." He looked shocked that she'd left his grasp. "Derek, you need to tell me what you think is going on with me."

"I don't even know what's happening. It's just a hunch."

"Then explain it to me. 'Cause I'm a little freaked out that I had claws ten minutes ago." Spencer ordered.

Derek sighed. "Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been so angry that you wanted to last out?"

Spencer shook her head. "I don't think so. I've always been in control of my temper. My dad used to tell me that there was nothing worth getting too angry over. I was one stable kid growing up."

"Have you ever felt…different on full moons?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I don't know, but the hearing and the scratches. It could mean that you're like me." Derek said. Instantly, Spencer became confused. She pushed her brows together. "A werewolf." He clarified.

Spencer stared at him, before laughing quietly. "Derek, that's ridiculous. I'm a witch. Today, I controlled a car with my mind."

Derek shrugged. "Maybe you're both?" he suggested.

Spencer shook her head. "No, the book specifically said one thing. I'd change into one of the three. And I'm a witch." Derek shrugged again. "Look, the book also said that I'd show characteristics of who I'm helping. Maybe it's that. Maybe I'm spending too much time with you." Spencer joked. The corner of Derek's mouth turned up slightly. Spencer sat on the bed, next to Derek. "But I'm fine. I'm not all wolfy and full moons have never been weird for me. You saw me on the last one. I was so in control."

"Okay." Derek said, still not convinced. The two sat on the bed, awkwardly. Spencer kept looking over at Derek, who was looking everywhere but at her.

"Are you disappointed?" Spencer said, softly. Derek looked at her, confused. "That I'm not a werewolf. That I'm not like you." Derek shied away and shrugged. "C'mon, answer me."

"I'd be lying if I said no." Derek said. Spencer nodded and moved back on the bed to lean against the wall. "Not because we're not the same. But if you were, you'd be less breakable." Derek joined Spencer to lean against the wall.

"I'm not breakable." Spencer claimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Red, I could snap your arm in half with one hand." Derek told her, crudely. Spencer was scared of him for just a moment. "Not that I would. I don't wanna scare you away."

"Well, you haven't yet. So I think you're good. Even if Scott and Stiles don't like me hanging out with you. They still think you killed your sister." Derek's lips drew in a straight line when Spencer said that. Spencer slapped her forehead. "Oh, damn. I'm sorry. My filter is just failing today." Derek put an arm around Spencer's shoulders to pull her into him and forget what she said. Spencer curled herself to his side. She sighed and closed her eyes, breathing him in. Just like with her hearing, her sense of smell was better than ever. She smelt the foresty musk in his jacket. There was a soft smell of burnt wood. He had been by his house since he was released. The most prominent aroma was his cologne. Spencer loved this most of all. It relaxed her. Made her feel happy. Spencer drifted off to sleep in Derek's arm. Derek, himself, was in his own kind of conflicted heaven. He loved being around her. He always made sure she was safe, which gave him a sort of purpose. Derek also knew that it was dangerous for h  
er to be around him. But he couldn't stay away. He wasn't sure what it was, but when he wasn't with her, his mind was going crazy, continuously thinking about her. It was getting risky, but Derek wouldn't hurt her.

**Monday Morning**

Spencer rolled over and groaned the next morning when her cell phone rang. She bumped into a large warm body with an 'oomph.' Spencer rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and realized she had rolled into Derek. He still remained asleep, peacefully. Spencer smiled and shook her head at him. She reached over him to get her phone and answer it.

"Hello?" she greeted, groggily.

"Oh, thank God!" Spencer furrowed her brow.

"Stiles?" Spencer questioned.

"Yes! It's Stiles! Where the hell have you been?" Stiles asked.

"Why are you yelling?" Spencer asked, rubbing her forehead. She looked over at Derek who was slowly coming out of his sleeping state.

"You haven't been answering your phone. All weekend!"

"I've stayed home with Derek. I'm fine. And alive, if that's what you're really getting at." Spencer rolled to her side, facing away from Derek.

"Don't think for a second your little disappearing act on Friday is forgiven. You scared the crap out of me." Stiles scolded.

"Stiles, what's the real reason you called me two hours before my alarm goes off?" Spencer asked Stiles. Derek moved to his side and kissed the back of Spencer's neck to calm her down. If anything it drove her insane; hormones going crazy.

Stiles sighed. "Scott had some freaky realistic dream last night about Allison. He wants us to get together early to talk about it. Do you want a ride to school?" Spencer giggled when Derek bit lightly on her spine. "What's so funny?"

"Uh, nothing." She lied, quickly. "But, sure. I'd love a ride to school, but in two hours. I need more sleep."

Stiles laughed. "Alright, Spence. I'll see you soon." Spencer hung up with Stiles and threw her phone over Derek and the side of the bed to the floor. She rolled over to look at Derek with a smile.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners?" Spencer joked. Derek shrugged. "You shrug too much." He responded with yet another shrug. Spencer shook her head. "You're ridiculous." Spencer pushed herself forward to kiss Derek hard and quick. "I had fun this weekend."

"I don't think I've ever been in a bed with a girl this much without having sex." Derek lightly traced her arms with his fingers.

"Is that a bad thing?" Spencer asked.

"Not at all. I had never seen The Lion King either, so it was something new." Spencer laughed.

"I still can't believe the amount of movies you haven't seen."

"Well, you can help me change that." Derek told the girl.

Spencer smiled. "What are we doin'?" She asked, without thinking. She cursed herself in her mind.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

Spencer took a deep breath. "Well, I'm just confused. We kiss. A lot." She stressed. "You sleep here. In my bed, with me. So, what are we? Are we dating, friends, just hanging out?" Derek sat up in bed, when he realized what she was asking. He sighed. She sat up next to him.

"Well, I know what you want. But I'm not sure I can be that." Spencer hung her head, biting the inside of her cheek. "The girl before. It ended badly."

"It's fine." Spencer said, stopping him from continuing. "I was just wondering. Especially after this weekend. But we're okay. We can just keep to what we're doing."

"You want more. You deserve more. Why would you put up with me and what little I have for you?"

Spencer shrugged. "I just don't want to be without you."

* * *

**Hey, guys! I'm soooo sorry for the delay. I've been trying really hard to work on my each of my stories at the same time. There are four of them so I write a chapter of each before I post it. Anyway, I'm really sorry if this seemed to have a big time jump. I couldn't really think of anything else to write that would happen over the weekend.**

**Thanks for reading and I'd really like some comments!**

**Thank you to _Mika Carrol_, _emoprincess1215_, and _Megan Elaine9_ for reviewing. You guys are great.**

**:)3**

**P.S. Check out my other stories, too!**

**Wasted**  
**Supernatural: Dean / OC**

**Fighter**  
**The Walking Dead: Daryl / OC**


	21. T W E N T Y

"So you killed her." Stiles said. He had one hand around Spencer's shoulders and another pushing the door open into the school. Scott followed in after his two friends.

Scott shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up. I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before."

"Really? I have. usually ends a little differently."

"Urgh." Spencer groaned. "Stiles, I have slept in that bed. I didn't need to know what." Spencer pushed her friend's arm off her shoulders.

"A: I meant I've never had a dream that felt that real." Scott reiterated. "And B: never give me that much detail about you in bed again."

"Noted." Stiles joked.

Spencer chimed in. "Can I suggest something?"

"No," Scott said, turning towards the red head. "I know you think it has something to do with me going out with Allison. I'm already worried enough that I could lose control and rip her throat out."

"Not at all." Spencer reassured. "I think she's going to pull out her father's crossbow and shoot you just like he did."

"But yeah, that, too." Stiles said, agreeing with both of his friends. "Personally, I think you're handling this pretty freakin' amazingly. You know, I mean, without some sort of Lycanthropy for Beginners class, you got this down."

"There's no class. But you have a teacher." Spencer spoke. Stiles looked to her, shocked.

"Who, Derek?" He asked. "Have you forgotten the part where Schoo and I got him tossed in jail? Just because he's your boyfriend now doesn't mean that he'll forgive us."

Spencer shook her head. "Maybe if you apologized to him, he would. And he's not my boyfriend."

"Guys!" Scott intervened. "Could you have this little marital spat later?" Spencer and Stiles looked at each other with narrowed eyes, and back to their friend. Scott sighed. "Spencer might be right. When I chased Allison and dragged her to the back of the bus, it felt so real."

"How real?" Stiles asked.

"Like it actually happened." The three friends walked through double doors to an outside area. Scott was a little in front of his other friends. Stiles, Scott, and Spencer looking in front of them at the wreckage. The emergency exit to one of the buses was busted open and there was blood everywhere. It looked exactly how Scott described from his dream. There was police caution tape, investigators, and people taking pictures.

"Stiles?" Spencer said to her friend, worried.

"I think it might have actually happened." Stiles said, aloud. Scott turned around to his friends like a deer in headlights. Scott pushed through his friends, back into the school. He walked quickly through the halls. Spencer and Stiles had to jog to catch up with him.

"Scott, I'm sure she's fine. It was just a dream." Spencer assured. Scott shook his head, not slowing.

"Spence, it obviously wasn't a dream. She's not answering my text messages."

"It could be just a coincidence, alright?" Stiles tried. "A seriously freaking amazing coincidence."

"Just help me find her, okay?" Scott continued to look, his head darting towards the different hallways. "Do you see her?" Scott asked. Spencer shook her head and Stiles muttered a 'no.' Scott looked around his breath starting to waiver. Spencer's own breathing became heavy from feeling what he was. Scott, panicked, threw himself against a locker. Stiles and Spencer stopped a few lockers away from him. Scott's heartbeat, loud and fast. He groaned and put all his force into punching a locker, crushing a door in. Spencer jumped back into Stiles, scared from the commotion. Stiles put a hand on her shoulder to comfort the girl. The friends watched Scott push himself off the lockers, realizing what he's just done. He looks up to his friends. Seeing the scared look on Spencer's face, Scott backed away, turning down another hallway.

Stiles leaned down to Spencer to talk in her ear. "You okay? I mean, with your witchy stuff?" The boy asked, sending chills down her spine. She ignored the feeling and nodded her head.

"Just scared me. I'm fine." Spencer and Stiles walked towards the hall to get Scott but found him talking to Allison. Spencer groaned at the sight. Scott was being irresponsible about this. Things could end badly between them if she found out his little wolfy secret.

Stiles tapped on Spencer's arm to get her attention. "Can you hear anything?"

Spencer shrugged. "I'm not gonna eavesdrop on them."

"Oh, c'mon. You've got something totally cool. Use it." Stiles ordered. Spencer tried to focus on her hearing. It was hard. She had never used it willingly before when she finally was able to hear Scott say something to Allison, the intercom screeched, making Spencer cringe and put her hands over her ears. Stiles tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away. "Like I could have predicted that."

The principal spoke over the intercom. "Attention students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about the incident that occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled." Spencer and Stiles groaned along with their peers.

"First of all," Spencer started. "I am never doing that again. Second, it's about the stupidest thing to have hundreds of teenagers, willing to do stupid things, around a crime scene.

Stiles nodded. "Let's get to class." He said, wrapping his arm around Spencer's shoulders. Stiles was going insane on the inside, trying to calm his heartbeat. He didn't want her to hear his affection for her. They arrived to Harris' classroom. Thankfully, a few other people were there.

"Garner." Harris said, when the two walked in. Spencer looked to her teacher. Harris pointed to the desk in the front right corner of the room by the windows. Spencer's heart started to race. Why was he making her sit in the front? Spencer thought Derek's threat had forced him to leave her alone. Stiles attempted to follow her and sit with her, but Harris stopped him. "Stilinski." He said, pointing to the back. Spencer gave Stiles a worried look.

Stiles whispered in her ear. "He won't try anything during class." Spencer nodded, hopefully. Stiles went to his seat in the back and Spencer sat alone as people piled into the classroom. Scott came in as the bell rang, passing by Spencer, not noticing the empty seat next to her. Spencer sighed, and buried her face in her book, planning to do the same for most of the period.

Scott turned around to look at Stiles. "Where's Spencer?" Stiles gestured to the front corner with his head. The werewolf followed his gesture to see the redhead alone. "What happened?"

"Harris is a creep." Stiles shrugged.

Scott turned back to his friend. "Maybe it was my blood on the door."

"It also could have been an animal. Maybe you caught a rabbit from the preserve."

"And did what?"

"Ate it." Stiles said, obviously.

"Raw?!" Scott exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"No," Stiles said, sarcastically. "you stopped to bake it in your little werewolf oven." Scott scoffed at his comment. "I don't know, dude, you're the one who can't remember anything."

"Mr. Stilinski." Harris called. All three friends looked up at their teacher at the sound of Stiles' last name. "If that is your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones out every once and a while. I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

Stiles shook his head, "No." Mr. Harris pointed out Stiles and then to another desk on the far side of the classroom from Spencer. Scott joined Spencer at the open spot next to her.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much for the two of you."

Spencer sighed, when Scott took the seat. "So it wasn't Allison." She noted.

Scott shook his head. "Stiles thinks I caught an animal?" he responded quietly, not wanting to get moved again.

"And what? Ate it?" Spencer asked, shocked and disgusted. Scott nodded. "No offense, Scott, but I would prefer that it was human blood." Scott gave her a confused look. "Do you work tonight?" Scott nodded. "Great. Let me come with you. I want to talk to Deaton about a job." She turned her head away from Scott and to the window. "Hey, what's that?" The girl said a little too loudly. The entire class grouped around the wall of windows. Spencer, Scott and Stiles convened near the window. They watched as EMTs pulled a body from behind the school towards an ambulance.

Scott looked to his friends. "That's not rabbit." Spencer's eyes were glued to the man. There was a very good chance that that man was dead and her best friend had killed him. The man was covered in blood. Spencer held her breath until the man burst up into a seated position and screamed. The whole class jumped back in surprise. Spencer's hand fell to Stiles' for comfort. Stiles gripped her hand as tight as she gripped his as they were both worried about their friend.

"Okay." Stiles said, warily. "This is good. Very Good. He sat up. He's not dead. Dead guys can't do that."

"Stiles…" Scott said, his voice faulting out of fear. "I did that."

~

Spencer was already sitting at the lunch table checking her phone for anything from Derek. She hadn't told him about Harris moving her to the front. She wasn't planning on it either. It's not like he threw himself on her again. Either way she felt like she needed to talk to him. With the guy that was found, Derek might have some knowledge on what the hell is going on with Scott.

"Dreams aren't memories." Stiles said, making Spencer look up from her phone.

"Then it wasn't a dream." Scott countered. Stiles took the seat next to Spencer and Scott went across from him. "Something happened last night and I can't remember what. So maybe Derek knows what's going on."

"What makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers? What if he can't help you?" Stiles asked.

"Stiles, Derek has been in this business a lot longer than we have. So he very well could know." Spencer informed her friend.

"He wasn't changed on the full moon, either." Scott brought up. "He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy."

"Spencer gave her wolfy friend a solemn look. "Scott, you don't' know you did that."

"We don't not know it!" Scott thwarted. "I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."

"Let's not freak out about it if we don't know what actually happened." Spencer added.

"No, you're not cancelling." Stiles ordered. "You can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out." Spencer looked to Stiles, noticing he was staring passed Scott. She followed his eyes to see Lydia coming towards us. The girl furrowed her brow.

"Hey, Spencer." Lydia said, smiling brightly. "What are you trying to figure out?" She asked, looking to the boys Stiles gave Scott a panicked look.

Scott stammered. "Uh, just…uh, homework." Stiles and Spencer nodded agreeing with Scott. When Lydia turned her attention to her tray. Stiles leaned over the table to talk quietly with his friends.

"Why is she sitting with us?" He asked. Scott shrugged.

"Maybe because she's my best friend, jerk." Stiles' eyes widened.

"I thought the party was just some kind of one time girl thing." He lowered his voice even more. "You said you would never forgive her."

"That was six years ago, first off. Second, I'm allowed to have other friends besides you two. And third, I thought you'd be happy that you had an 'in' with her now."

Stiles didn't know what to say. He really didn't want to be with Lydia. What he really wanted was right in front of him, but she was with another guy. But then Stiles remembered her saying that she wasn't Derek's girlfriend. Which meant, there might still be a chance for him. Stiles stuttered. "Yeah, I don't know. I'm kinda just taking some time to myself." Spencer furrowed her brow. "What? Is it a crime?"

"No," Spencer admitted, "But you've been pining after Lydia for as long as I can remember. You finally have your chance. Just convince her that Jackson' is a jerk."

"Spence, I'm fine. You don't have to play matchmaker."

"Hey, Spencer." Spencer turned her head to see Allison smiling brightly at her. "You never called. I got worried."

"I passed out when I got home. Sorry." The red head lied, shrugging. Jackson walked over and Spencer noticed the other two people, Danny and Greenburg, who had joined the table.

"Get up." Jackson ordered Greenburg. Spencer rolled her eyes. What did Lydia see in him? Stiles was a much better guy.

Greenburg whined. "How come you never ask Danny to get up?"

"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot." Danny joked, even though it was really the truth. Greenburg sauntered off and Jackson took his place. "So I hear, they're saying it was some kind of animal attack. Like a cougar or something." Danny brought up. Spencer glanced at Scott who looked worried. He did not want to be talking about it.

"I heard moutian lion." Jackson said. Spencer rolled her eyes to his words.

"A cougar is a mountain lion." Lydia corrected. Spencer looked to her, shocked. How did she know that. Lydia noticed everyone was staring at her and changed her tune. "Isn't it?"

"Who care?" Jackson asked. "This guy is probably some homeless tweaker who was gonna die anyway."

"Could you be any more of an ass, Jackson?" Spencer said, sending Jackson a glare. "He's still a person."

"Who are you to talk to me like that?"

"Oh, please." Spencer scoffed. "Get off your high horse. I have no idea what Lydia sees in you."

"Actually," Stiles interrupted, so Jackson couldn't speak again. "I just found out who it is. Check it out. Stiles moved to show everyone his phone, playing the video in the center of the table. Turns out the guy was a Garrison Meyers. He survived but he's in the hospital in critical condition.

"I – I know this guy." Scott stammered.

"You do?" Allison queried.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I rode the bus back when I lived with my dad. He was the bus driver."

"Lydia sneered. "Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please? Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night?" Allison nearly choked on her food at Lydia's words. "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?" She asked Allison.

"Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do."

"Well, I am _not_ sitting home again watching lacrosse videos," Lydia stressed. "So if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun." She perked up. "Oh, Spencer, you and Stiles can come, too."

"Ah," Spencer started. "I think I'm busy that night. Plans with someone."

"Yeah, and I'm not good at being a fifth wheel. Sounds like it'll be loads of fun though."

"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson asked, sarcastically. "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

Lydia reached for Jackson's arm. "How 'bout bowling? You love to bowl." Stiles shook his head at Scott, confusing Spencer. Was it bad to go on double dates?

"Yeah, with actual competition."

"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison challenged. She turned to Scott. "You can bowl, right?"

"Sort of." Spencer tried to hold off laughing at Scott's answer.

"Is it a sort of or a yes?" Jackson asked.

This seemed to flip a switch in Scott, he was more driven to defend himself. "Yes." He said proudly." In fact, I'm a great bowler." Stiles shot him a look like he couldn't believe what his friend had said. Spencer's head dropped into her hands.

~

After the final bell rang, the three friends walked together in the hallway towards the parking lot. Stiles and Spencer walked arm in arm, Scott walking in front of them slightly.

"I can't believe that you told off Jackson." Stiles congratulated. "And you lived to tell the tale. That was just amazing."

"Only that wasn't the highlight of our little get together at lunch."

"Right?! Scott, you're a terrible bowler. What were you thinking?" Stiles asked.

"I know! I'm such an idiot." Scott moped.

"God, it was like watching a car wreck. I mean, firs it turned into the whole group date thing. And then outta nowhere comes that phrase."

"'Hang out'" Scott mocked, like the word was poison.

Spencer furrowed her brow. "What's so wrong with hanging out?" She asked, still lost.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, okay? It's like death. Once it's hanging out, you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out."

"So I'm not hot?" Spencer asked.

"You're different." Stiles explained. "You are…very attractive." He stumbled. "But we've known you forever." Spencer rolled her eyes at the response.

"How is that happening?" Scott questioned to himself. "Either I killed a guy or I didn't.

"You didn't, Scott." Spencer promised. "You couldn't have.

"I don't think Danny likes me very much." Stiles admitted. Spencer nodded, agreeing.

"I think you make him awkward. Maybe he gets some sort of weird vibe off of you or something." Spencer suggested.

"I asked Allison on a date, and now all of a sudden we're hanging out. Going bowling with Lydia and Jackson. Where the hell did that come from?"

Spencer groaned, hating being the buffer of the two. "Scott, it's nothing. Take it from me, okay? As a girl, I can for sure say that it is just a double date. She is talking about you to Lydia. How else would she have known you were going out? Girls don't just talk about any guy with their best friend."

"Am I not attractive to gay guys?" Stiles asked

"I make first line, and the team captain wants to destroy me, and now, now I'm gonna be late for work." Scott hurried off to the parking lot for his bike.

"Wait! Scott!" Stiles called, "you didn't – am I attractive to gay guys?! You didn't answer my question…"

Spencer smiled. "I have to go with him, but, yes. Stiles you are very attractive." She said, sincerely. "But you're not gay." She pushed herself onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "I'll call you later, okay? Or we can get together and clean out that room so I can move in." She hurried off after Scott, leaving Stiles standing there, shocked, his palm covering the ghost of her kiss.


	22. T W E N T Y - O N E

Scott biked to the veterinary clinic as fast as he could with Spencer riding on the back pegs, holding onto his shoulders. He was late to work and he absolutely hated being late. Spencer wasn't any help in making him on time either. After she came running out of the school, shouting for Scott to stop, he had groaned, but remembered he said he would take her with him. He wasn't all that sure why she wanted a job. She had her parents to take care of her still. Last Scott knew they were pretty well off, surprisingly, with nothing economic wise to worry about. It was a surprise to him with so many frequent visits to the hospital. Either way, she wanted a job, and he'd eventually find out why.

When the two arrived at the clinic, Spencer jumped backwards off of the bike so that Scott could park it along the outside wall. Spencer was surprised that Deaton hadn't had a bike rack installed here yet. Scott was the only other person that worked with him and he rode his bike. She followed Scott into the clinic and to the back. He entered an area where Deaton was going through a box, possibly organizing.

"Sorry." Scott mumbled as he crossed the room removing his backpack and placing it under a table. Spencer stood next to the closed door, leaning against the wall. "Sorry." He repeated. Like it was said, he hated being late.

Deaton glanced at Scott for just a moment before returning to the box of supplies he had in front of him. "You're all of two minutes late."

Scott shrugged. "I just don't want you to think I'm slacking."

"Scott, I guarantee you, you're one of the least slacking kids in this town." Deaton and Scott both grinned at each other, realizing that it was the truth.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Spencer said, quietly, trying to keep herself from laughing. Sure, Scott was one of the least slacking, but he still was as lazy as a sloth. Both Deaton and Scott turned to look at her.

"Hello." Deaton said, politely.

Spencer smiled and pushed herself off of the wall in order to go shake Deaton's hand. "Hi, Doctor Deaton. I'm – "

"Spencer Garner." He said, like he already had known. Spencer furrowed her brow. How did he know that? She thought to herself. Sensing her confusion, Deaton explained. "I was friends with your parents. Your dad mostly. He and I had a few things in common." He said, giving her a knowing look. Spencer's eyes widened. Instantly her sight went to Scott, to see if he noticed her shock, but he was already putting some things away. Two seconds later, Scott turned around. He looked at the door and became panicked. Sheriff Stilinski was standing there, clad in his aviators. Spencer could sense that Scott was becoming worried, freaking out that the sheriff had figured out that it was him at the crime scene. A second later, the Sheriff opens the door and comes in with a dog. Deaton leans down to see the dog. "Hey, I see somebody's ready to get their stitches out." He said, excitedly.

"Hey, there Scott, Spencer. You two staying out of trouble?" The Sheriff asked. Spencer nodded and Scott answered him with a yeah. "Hey, listen, while I'm here you mind taking a look at those pictures I was telling your about? Sacramento still can't determine an animal."

"I'm not exactly an expert." Deaton said. The sheriff took out the pictures and handed them to the veterinarian. Spencer tried to move in a way where she could sneak glances at the pictures. "This is the guy who was attacked on the bus?"

The sheriff nodded. "Yeah. We found wolf hairs on Laura Hale's body." Spencer perked up at the sound of Derek's sister's name. All that Scott heard was 'wolf.'

"A wolf?" Scott questioned. He became flustered when he noticed confused eyes on him. "Um, I mean, I think I read somewhere that wolves haven't been in California for, like, sixty years." Spencer nodded, agreeing with Scott.

"True enough, but wolves are highly migratory. They could have wandered in from another state, driven by impulse or strong enough memory."

"Wolves have memories?" Spencer asked, curiously. Deaton looks to Spencer, not at all surprised at her curiosity.

"Longer-term memories, yes." He tells the teenagers. "If associated with a primal drive. See this one here?" He points out part a spot in the picture on the man's face. Everyone nodded. "Those are claw marks. A wolf would have gone for the throat or the spinal cord with its teeth."

"So what do you think?" Sheriff Stilinski asked. "It's a mountain lion?"

"I don't know." Deaton admitted. "A wolf could chase down its prey, hobbling it by tearing at the ankles." Spencer noticed Scott space out. "And then the throat. But that seems to be all that I know." Deaton said, handing the pictures back to the Sheriff.

"Thanks anyway. I'll go out in the waiting room while you handle this." The sheriff said gesturing to the dog. Deaton nodded as he started attending to the dog n the metal slab. Spencer stood again in the corner, trying to stay out of the way as Scott assisted Deaton in taking out the dog's stitches. Deaton glanced at Spencer before turning back to the dog.

"I can guess that Spencer isn't here just to hang out." Deaton said, matter-of-factly.

Spencer stepped forward with her hands held behind her back. "No, sir. I was actually wondering if you needed a little more help around here. I know Scott can't always be here with his lacrosse. Or I could organize or maybe even start to groom the dogs." Deaton gave her a look

"Why don't you come back after Scott's shift? Say about eight. We'll talk about it."

Spencer smiled at Deaton's words and nodded. "I'll be here."

"Alright." Deaton said. "He's all set. Why don't you take him out there? I'll see you later, Spencer." Deaton gave her another knowing look. Something in her, told her that she might need her book when she came back tonight. She grabbed the dog's leash and pat the dog on its head. Spencer gives Scott a small wave before walking out to the waiting room. The Sheriff stood up when she entered the room. He smiled when he saw Spencer with the dog.

"Hey, there, boy." He said, to the dog. "And Spencer."

"Hey, Papa Stiles." Spencer said, handing the dog leash over to the man. "Can I get a ride home? I mean, your place?"

"Sure. Is everything alright?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, of course. I just wanted to ask Deaton about a job. Get some money rollin' in, you know?"

"I think that is very adult of you, Spencer."

The red head smiled at the sheriff. "Yeah, I've just got to come back later. Talk to him about it." Spencer followed Sheriff out of the clinic and into the squad car. She sat in the front and the dog went to the back. He drove safely through the town, just like every Beacons Hills Sheriff should. When he arrived, he put the car in park and looked over to the girl.

"Will you need a ride?"

Spencer nodded. "But I'll just get Stiles to take me. Don't worry about it." She opened the door and walked around to the other side. "See ya later, Pops." She leaned through the window to kiss his cheek. She jogged up to the house, waving as the Sheriff took the car from its parked position.

"You two behave!" he called as he drove away. Spencer opened the door to the house and walked upstairs into Stiles' room. He was sitting at the computer, probably still doing research on Scott's condition. Spencer knocked on the open door. Stiles ended up jumping out of his desk chair.

"Sorry, Stiles." Spencer apologized. Stiles nodded, accepting the apology. "So, you wanna get to work on cleaning this room with me?"

Stiles started to get nervous. "Uh, yeah… about that…" he stumbled.

"Do you not want me to move in?"

"No, it's not that. It's just…" Stiles sighed. He walked over to Spencer and grabbed her hand. "Come with me." Spencer nodded her head, though very confused. Spencer would be lying if she said she hated the feel of his hand around hers. It almost felt as if she was two different people. When she was with Stiles, she was this sarcastic, yet prepared person. And with Derek, she was reckless and carefree. She got butterflies from both boys, and her life with both of them was easy. She couldn't decide which she couldn't live without more. He stopped them at the door to the room she would be staying in. "Ready?"

"To see the mess?" Spencer asked, sarcastically. "Yeah, I guess." Stiles shook his head with a smile. Stiles turned the knob and opened the door. Surprisingly, the room was spotless. There were no papers or clothes that were too small. The walls were even painted, striped with thick red and yellow vertical lines. Spencer walked in with her jaw dropped circling the room, finding it hard to believe. "Stiles, we were supposed to do this together." She exclaimed, a little hurt that he did it without her.

"Yeah, well, you were completely AWOL this weekend. And I didn't know when or if you were gonna ever have time with it. If you couldn't tell, I'm kinda excited for you to be living here." And that was true. But he also knew that with her in the house, she could keep a close watch on how things were going with Derek. He knew she wouldn't dare bring him hear. A suspect in a murder case at the town's sheriff's house? That wasn't the smartest idea.

"I'm sorry. I just... I didn't mean to abandon you. You seriously did not need to do this."

"Well, I'll help you move your stuff. Get settled."

Spencer smiled at her best friend. She skipped a step and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Stiles was surprised for a moment and didn't know where to put his hands. "Thank you." she said, in his ear. He relaxed and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You are really making this so much easier on me. I, honestly, don't know what I would do without you, Stiles." She held his neck tighter.

"Alright, well you are about to find out if you don't loosen your death grip, Spence." Spencer gasped and pushed herself away from Stiles.

"Oh, gosh. Please don't tell me it was the inexplicable werewolf strength."

"No, just normal Spencer strength." He smirked. Spencer smiled.

"Good." She said, moving to lie on her back in the middle of the room on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Stiles questioned.

"Join me!" Spencer said, excitedly, holding a hand up to pull him down. He didn't need her help, but laid down next to her with his hands under his head. "Just imagine how life will be when the two of us actually live with each other." She told him.

"We're going to drive my dad crazy." He said, smirking at her. "Let's just hope he doesn't find out about your secret boyfriend." Stiles mentioned, hating the second that he did. She looked to him for a moment and shook her head.

"Derek is not my boyfriend." She said, defensively. Stiles scoffed. Spencer knew that Stiles didn't believe her. She looked up at the ceiling and bit her lip. She sighed. "You know that you're my best friend. Right?" Stiles looked to her, a little confused. "I would never leave you." Spencer looked to her friend with a nervous look. She hoped he would just drop the Derek conversation all together and just let them be Spencer and Stiles, partners in crime. In Stiles' eyes there was nothing but admiration and worry. He knew that he would always be there for her, but her for him was probably a different story.

So he lied. "Yeah, I know." Stiles said, opening his arms, for her to curl up in. She smiled and gladly accepted the notion. The two sighed contently.

~~

Stiles dropped Spencer off just before eight. She was nervous, to say the least. She wanted a job really badly. Granted it would give her less time to juggle all of the things she had on her plate. Between school, Derek, Scott and Stiles, and all her supernatural goings on it was going to be a lot harder when she added a job to the mix.

Scott's bike was gone from the side of the building. He told Spencer he was going to visit Derek to ask him about what could have happened with the bus. They both hoped that Derek knew what was going, otherwise, Stiles would have had the point on this one. Spencer promptly texted Derek when she found out Scott was heading over there, but she received no reply. She decided not to worry about it and just go home later and wait until he came through her window.

She opened the door into the clinic and the bell rang signifying her entrance. Deaton came from the back and looked to Spencer.

"Spencer. Hello again. Are you ready to have that conversation?"

Spencer crossed her arms over her chest. "That depends. Exactly what is this conversation about?"

"First, you're hired. You'll be helping to keep the animals well-groomed."

"And second?" Spencer asked, a little worried about what his answer was. She didn't know if he actually knew anything about her family history, but if he did, he could definitely be a little more help than Derek and Stiles could be. The most they could do was read the book along with her and figure it out as they went. If Deaton knew about this stuff, he could help her to understand what the book says.

"Second, involves that book that's in your backpack." He said. How had he known that she had the book in her bag? She brought her book bag around to her front to unzip her bag and take out the book that was still disguised as a spiral notebook. "That's just wonderful. You're a witch." He supposed.

"How do you know about all of this?" Spencer asked.

"Like I said, your father and I were very good friends. We aren't part of the same group, but we do pretty much the same thing. It is very rare to have so many of us in the same place. I consider it some sort of advantage."

"Advantage over what? What are we anyway?"

"Sometimes we are referred to as advisors. That's what I was to Derek's family."

"You knew his family? Do you know what happened to his sister?"

Deaton shook his head. He wasn't at all surprised that the girl was asking so many questions. Her dad was the same way. He always had to have the answers. "All of that will be figured out. But for now, we need to cover the basics. Who have you been advising?"

"Honestly, I don't think I've been helping Scott or Derek. There's not much I can help Derek out with because he knows what all of this is. I don't, so I can't help Scott." It was then that Spencer remembered that no one knew about Scott. Her eyes widened when she noticed that she just told the secret.

"That's alright." Deaton said, as if he knew that she was embarrassed with herself. "I already figured out about Scott. The dog from earlier usually is a feisty one, but he remained still. I could only assume it was Scott's doing. And I'm sure that you've helped the two of them with something."

"Look, I'm still really lost on everything. I don't know what half of these words even are. How could I have helped them if I don't know what the hell is going on?"

"You're very wise, Spencer, I'm sure. If there was one thing that you would have gotten from your father, it is intelligence."

"Oh yeah, that and his eyes." Spencer said, sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Can you help me with this or no?"

Deaton nodded. "On days when Scott doesn't work. I'll help you with what you need. Don't tell anyone about our little lessons. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Spencer said, she turned to leave. She was going to walk home since her house wasn't that far from the clinic. "Thank you." she said quietly, but he heard it. She walked out of the door and braced herself for the chill of the night air. Thankfully it wasn't a full moon or she would have been freaked out. She probably would have made Stiles wait for her. When she got to her house, no one was home. She made herself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and hurried back into her bedroom. Spencer's window was closed, courtesy of her mom, so she quickly opened it to wait for the arrival of Derek. She knew that she should pack, but she was tired and didn't want to mess with it. She laid on her bed with her bowl and quickly ate. Derek didn't show up for another hour and Spencer had managed to fall asleep. Derek silently crept into her room and joined her on the bed. This woke Spencer up and she jumped away from him.

"Red!" Derek whispered. "It's just me." he calmed her down. Spencer laid her head back onto a pillow, facing Derek. He was leaning up on one elbow on his side.

"Where were you all day? I've been trying to reach you but you never answered."

"I got caught up."

"Did Scott come to see you?" Derek nodded. "What happened? Did he kill the guy?"

Derek shrugged. "He's probably gone to find out."

Spencer furrowed her brow. "Why didn't them tell me?" she asked, rhetorically, reaching for her phone in her pocket. "Oh, they did. Guess I didn't hear it while I was sleeping."

"You wanna go?"

Spencer shook her head, closing her eyes, letting her exhaustion take her away. "I wanna stay with you." she said, tired written clear through her voice. Derek nodded and didn't respond. He was nervous to say the least. There was a good chance that Scott could kill her, or even that he could. Even with her advantage of being a witch, she hasn't learned it yet. More importantly, he was worried about what she was doing to him.

* * *

**Sorry about how long that it's been. And I'm especially sorry for how boring this chapter is. Anyway, please, please, please comment and do whatever you need to. I've seriously been losing my inspiration, and maybe your comments will help.**


	23. T W E N T Y - T W O

Spencer woke up to the sound of a ringtone coming out of her phone. She sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Derek was gone. She shook her head and sighed, a little unhappy that he had left. She reached behind her grabbing the phone from her nightstand.

"Hello?" She said groggily.

"Spence. Wake up!" Stiles ordered her through the phone.

"What time is it?"

"A little after midnight. Open your window."

"My window is open." She said, confused. Then she heard a knock on her glass window. She turned over to look at the window. She saw Stiles standing there waving his hand at her. "It was open when I fell asleep." Derek must have closed it when he decided to disappear on her. Spencer groaned, and rolled out of her bed. She threw the window open. "What, Stiles?" she asked, grumpily.

"Sleep over at my place." He said.

"I was already sleeping." Spencer pointed out, annoyed. "You woke me up to get me to sleep over your house?"

"Well, I'll admit, now that you put it that way, it sounds a little stupid. But I've already dropped Scott off at home and I'm bored."

"No!" Spencer said, sarcastically.

Stiles grumbled. "Come on. We gotta celebrate the good news."

"Seriously, Stiles? What news could be _this good_ that you decide to wake me up from my peaceful slumber to switch beds? What if I were entertaining tonight?"

Stiles froze up. "You – uh, you weren't, right?" Stiles didn't like the thought of Derek and Spencer sleeping in the same bed. Especially when there was no way in hell that guy could keep it in his pants. "I mean," Stiles leaned in to look inside her room. "there's no one there." Spencer put her hand on Stiles' forehead and pushed his head out of her room.

"There's no one here now. There was, but he left. That's not the point, Stiles. I was sleeping." Spencer complained.

"Please!" Stiles begged, folding one hand in the other, acting like he was begging. He pouted his lower lip just a little bit and when he did, Spencer sighed. Stiles smiled, knowing that he was getting her to agree to stay with him somehow.

"Let's just stay here. No one's home." Spencer, grabbed his hand and helped him through the window. She left the window opened, even though she wouldn't want Derek coming back.

"So no one's here?"

"That's what I said." Spencer said, confused. "Are you okay? You seem really off."

"I'm fine." Stiles assured.

"Okay, well, I'm tired. So you think we could just pop in a movie?"

"Sure." Stiles agreed, turning around in the room awkwardly. Spencer laughed at him. She reached into a drawer, pulled out a pair of sweatpants, and threw them at her friend. "Thanks." He said, unfolding the pants. "Hey, these are mine!" Stiles accused.

Spencer smiled and nodded, gathering her own pajamas, and moving to the bathroom. "Guys pants are more comfortable." Spencer slid herself into her bathroom, closing the door behind her. Stiles was left in the middle of her room with a stunned look on his face. Spencer stole his pants and has been wearing them. When did she wear them? Why did she wear them? Did she think of him when she wore them? Getting out of his thoughts, he quickly changed not wanting to keep Spencer waiting in her bathroom. Spencer came back out and popped _Iron Man_ into her DVD player. Stiles shifted awkwardly around her room a little more before Spencer dragged him to her bed. She took the inside closest to the wall. "Why are you being so awkward?"

"Awkward?" Stiles asked, confused. He knew that he was thought, and proceeded to stumble over his next few words. "I'm not being awkward. I'm super cool. Ice cold. Whatever the kids are saying these days."

"Okay, you're rambling. What's going on?" Spencer asked, sitting up crossed legged against the wall.

"I just feel weird. I mean, I don't want Derek to like murder me in my sleep or anything."

Spencer groaned. "For the last time, I'm not with Derek. We're just hanging out. No labels. No stress. He would have no reason to murder you."

"Seriously? And you're okay with that? You don't seem like that kind of person." Stiles was surprised. Spencer wasn't the type of person to kiss someone with no reason behind it. Before him, Stiles was positive that she hadn't ever kissed anyone.

"Yeah, well, change is good. We've all been doing a lot of changing lately."

Stiles scoffed. "Everyone except me."

"Are you kidding?" Spencer asked, putting a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "I think you've changed most of all, Scarecrow." Stiles laughed at a reference to The Wizard of Oz. "I've never really seen this side of you. The serious, emotional side of Stiles Stilinski doesn't really come out that often. Then you fixing up the room for me at your place, it was cute."

"Oh, well, I'm cute." Stiles said, sarcastically.

"You are!" Spencer insisted. "You really care for Scott. And me. One look in your eyes and I know that you'd do anything for me." Spencer yawned, trying to cover it up with her arm. Stiles sighed and smiled. He opened his arms to her to curl into. She gladly accepted, laying her head down on his chest. Spencer smiled. "You're heart's beating really fast." She said, sleepily.

"You still have that effect on me, Spence."

Spencer tilted her head up, to smiled at Stiles. She pushed herself up with her feet and placed a kiss on the corner of Stiles' mouth. She pulled away to see a shocked look on his face. "Uh, I'm sorry." She said, sheepishly, laying her head back down on his chest. "Good night, Stiles." Stiles couldn't get a single word out. So he just nodded his head. His stomach was going crazy with butterflies. Sure, he liked that she kissed him, but she wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind. He doesn't want to be in the middle of whatever confusing relationship that she had with Derek. He wanted her all to himself. It was selfish, but when he really thought about it, Derek didn't deserve her. He had only known her for a couple weeks. There was no way that he knew everything about her that he did. Stiles deserved her. He has always been there for her, through every single stage of her life. The first day of kindergarten, Stiles stood right beside her walking up the steps, holding her hand. Every birthday he was blowing out candles with her. Even when she first hit puberty and got cranky for a little bit every month, he didn't mind. She was his.

~~~

Derek stood just outside the window, lurking and looking in on the two cuddled up on the bed. The place where he should be. He wanted to go in there and rip the boy's throat open, but after Spencer said that Derek didn't have a reason to, he stood back. She was right. They weren't connected in anyway. They weren't serious. Just like he had asked to be, friends. Who apparently kiss each other a lot. Still looking in, his blood boiled when he saw the red head lean up and kiss the teen's mouth. He glared through the window, feeling the wolf side take over him. She was his.

~~~

The next day, Stiles and Spencer managed to scrounge some boxes out of the garage and start packing her things. She was determined to be out of this house. Not that she hated her family or anything, but she wanted her parents to come home. Spencer hated that she was the reason behind most of her father's hospital visits. She just wished that they could be happy, especially her mother. Her parents couldn't have anything of a normal relationship when she was around. The faster that she got out, the faster that her dad could come home. They managed to get all of her clothes and little things packed up. She didn't really like having clutter around, so everything that she found that she wouldn't need, she just ended up tossing or donating. All of this left her with five boxes filled with clothes, DVDs, games, and her bathroom stuff. They finished packing the boxes at about two and decided to treat themselves with a burger run. When they came back, Spencer's mom was home.

"Mom, hey!" Spencer said, excitedly. She walked towards her mom and gave her a big hug. Amy was no doubt confused as her daughter did this, but she didn't fight it. When Spencer pulled away, she told her mom that she was done packing. "All we have to do, is get everything over to Stiles'. Which means I might have to borrow the truck. For the big things, I mean. I'm not sure that my bed is going to fit in Stiles' Jeep. Or Derek's Camaro."

Amy sighed, nodding her head. She reached into her purse and pulled out keys to the truck. She handed the keys over to Spencer letting them drop into her hand. Spencer took a better look at the keys, noticing a new key chain. It was a lanyard with her name sewed into it. Her eyes widened. "All the rust bucket does is sit in the garage. I can't have my daughter always relying on the Sheriff or his son to drive her places."

"So, the truck is mine?" Spencer asked just to make sure. Amy nodded. Spencer squealed making Stiles cover his ears. Spencer threw her arms around her mother's neck "Thank you, thank you!" she said, pulling away. "Stiles, I have a car!" Spencer then proceeded to jump into his arms. Stiles was surprised at first, but then he took it in and held her tight. There was no way he was going to be able to be just friends with her.

~~~

The two decided that they would hold of the moving for another day and just go have some fun. Spencer had the urge to just drive her truck around. She was very excited about it and wanted to relish in the fact that it was, in fact, hers. They drove through town, making sure to drive on every road. The drive was silent. The two of them never talking. All aside from the fact that Spencer would just look over at her friend and squeal.

Stiles couldn't help but stare at her smile. How her eyes were lit up. Everything about her was beautiful. After all this time, he couldn't believe that he would ever miss any of what he saw in her a few years ago. They drove through the drive-thru at Taco Bell when they got hungry. Spencer insisting that she paid, since she recently got her new job. Stiles tried to think of a time when he'd seen her happier. It was hard for him.

Once it was dark, the two went home only to arrive just in time for Stiles' dad to receive a phone call. Of course, the two ran up the stairs and picked up the phone. Stiles had the phone to his ear while Spencer was looking at him, jumping in anticipation. When Stiles hung up the phone, he looked gravely at his friend.

"We've got to go see Scott."

"Can I drive?" Spencer asked excitedly. Stiles smiled and nodded. Spencer drove directly to Scott's house and the two got out of the car. They had planned to climb up to his room like Stiles' had started the first night all of this confusion started. Spencer went first, scoping out a plan of attack for climbing the side of the house. She jumped and latched onto the house, swearing that there was a little bit of her Derek side coming out. There was no way in the world that she could have held onto the house with her scrawny arms.

Spencer looked down at her friend. "Just try not to look at my ass." She winked. Stiles swallowed, nervously. She climbed up the rest of the way and snuck into Scott's window as quietly as she could, Stiles shortly following after her, not managing to keep the noise down. "Stiles!" she whispered harshly. Spencer heard a soft movement outside of Scott's room. Spencer hushed her friend. She turned her head to see Mrs. McCall raising a baseball bat over her head. "Wait!"

Stiles looked up seeing the same and said "Oh, no, no!" he ducked in front of Spencer and the three of them erupted in a screaming fest. Mrs. McCall slowly backed away and put the bat down.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Stiles looked up at her in disbelief. "What am I doing?!" he scoffed. "God, do either of you ever play baseball?"

"Sorry, Momma McCall." Spencer said, bashfully, coming out from behind Stiles, sitting on the edge of the bed. Scott came in a second later just before Mrs. McCall was going to lecture them.

She sighed, turning to her son. "Can you please tell your friends to use the front door?"

"But we lock the front door. They wouldn't be able to get in." Scott responded.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Oh, c'mon, Momma." Spencer said. "You know you love me."

Mrs. McCall only glared slightly in her direction. Spencer shied away. "And, by the way, do either of you care that there's a police enforced curfew?" Spencer shook her head no, while the boys voiced it. "No. All right then. Well, you know what? That's about enough parenting for me for one night." She handed the bat to Spencer and leaned to kiss her on top of her head. "Good night." She said.

"Night!" Spencer and Stiles called after her.

Spencer looked to Stiles. "So what was that phone call with your dad about?" she asked. Stiles sighed.

"What phone call?" Scott asked.

"My dad left for the hospital fifteen minutes ago. It's the bus driver. They said he succumbed to his wounds." Stiles explained.

"Succumbed?" Scott questioned, obviously unsure of what that meant.

"Means he's dead, you moron." Spencer joked. "How the hell did that happen? I mean, there's no way, he could have just died. Wasn't he on some sort of machine, life support, crap?" Scott and Stiles looked at her knowingly. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Derek did not do this."

"Oh, come on, Spence, this has his name all over it." Stiles said.

"Not really. You're going off of your 'Derek's a murderer' hunch. I promise you that he isn't. He can't lie to me, remember?"

"But he can move around the truth." Stiles tried.

Spencer groaned. "Fine, you wanna know if he did it, Scott and I will go and find out. And you can stay here to keep the bed warm. Let's go, Scott." She said, moving towards the window. The boys just stared at her, not really sure if they should follow her. "Let's go!" Spencer stressed, before flipping off of the side of the house. Then she started running. She ran as fast as she could, not even bothering with her truck. She was frustrated and felt the need to run. To go and not stop. She heard leaves rustling beside her and saw Scott running just behind her. Scott beat Spencer to Derek's house, bursting in and screaming his name. Spencer did just the same.

"Derek! I know you're here!" Scott screamed. "I know what you did!"

Spencer scoffed. "What you think that he did." She corrected.

"_I didn't do anything._" The two heard throughout the house. Spencer gave Scott an 'I told you so' look.

"You killed him!" Scott yelled back, moving to go up the stairs. Spencer stayed back. She knew this house was hanging on by a thread and there was no way that she was going up those stairs.

"_He died._"

"Like your sister died?"

"You just had to bring that up, right?" Spencer asked Scott, rhetorically.

"_My sister was missing. I came here looking for her._"

"You found her." Scott pointed out.

"_I found her in pieces! Being used as bait to catch me._"

This shocked Spencer. "Catch you? Who's trying to catch you, Derek?" She asked. "Would you come out? I'm tired of this horror movie crap." Scott waved her off.

"I think you killed them both. I'm gonna tell everyone, starting with the sheriff." Scott made it to the top of the stairs and took a left down the hallway. Spencer saw Derek come out from the other side.

"Derek?" She questioned. "What are you doing?" Derek sauntered after Scott, reaching for him. Derek grabbed his jacked and threw him down the stairs. "Derek! What the hell?!" She moved to help Scott get up, but when he lifted his head, she found him in his wolf form. Spencer backed away when he roared up the stairs at Derek. Derek jumped down all of the steps, never landing until he reached the first floor. Scott was up on his feet and grabbed Derek, throwing him into a wall, sending the older man through to the other side. "Scott? Seriously? He's older and stronger and your plan is to fight back?" Scott didn't answer her, but walked in through the hole in the wall he just made. Spencer sighed. She made her way to the stairs to sit down on the third step and just wait it out as the boys fought. She sighed, putting her elbows on her knees to hold her head up. Once she heard a slash though, she got a little scared and went to check out the damage. Scott was leaned over a couch and Derek was facing away from her, cracking his neck. She knelt down next to Scott to check him out. "Are you two satisfied?" she said, sarcastically.

"I didn't kill him." Derek stated. "Neither of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine."

"This?" Scott questioned. "This is all your fault! You ruined my life!"

"No, I didn't." And just like that it was all very clear for Spencer.

"You're the one who bit me." Scott assured.

"No, Scott, he's not." Spencer said, quietly, joining their circle.

Scott looked to Spencer and back to Derek, confused. "What?"

"I'm not the one that bit you." Derek insisted. Scott looked down to the slash marks on his check, touching them. He recoiled like he was remembering something. Scott almost fell, but Spencer put his arms around her and caught him, sitting him on the couch.

"There's another." Scott realized.

"It's called an Alpha." Derek informed. "It's the most dangerous of our kind. You and I, we're betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal than either of us."

"That's why Laura was here." Spencer noticed. "She was looking for him."

Derek nodded. "Now I'm trying to find him. But I don't think I can do it without you. Both of you." he said, directing his attention to Spencer.

"Well, I understand me, but why Scott? You and him have the same shtick going on. Why do you need him?"

"Because he's the one that bit him. You're part of his pack." Derek told Scott. "It's you, Scott. You're the one he wants." Scott couldn't make heads or tails of it. Spencer didn't want to believe it, but she knew it was true. All of their lives were potentially in a lot of danger.

* * *

**First off, let me start by saying how super, duper sorry I am that it has been so long. I am writing a hell of a lot more now that I've quickly gotten over my 'I must play The Sims 3 all day, eer day' mood. Haven't played all weekend. I'm so proud of myself.**

Second, I want to apologize again because I still suck for taking so long.

Third, tell me how this is. Please. I beg of you. I like to know what you guys like about the story. And in all honesty I'm not sure that I particularly like this story. I tried to put more description about the characters thoughts and it's really the first time I paid so much attention to it and I think it kinda sucks.

Fourth, please comment, subscribe, and recommend (if you feel the need, not necessary). You guys rock for still sticking with me and I love comments and criticism.

:)3


	24. T W E N T Y - T H R E E

A couple weeks passed and there was no sign of another werewolf throughout Beacon Hills. The small town was actually beginning to look and even feel normal. Spencer was working at the animal clinic five times a week. She worked three days with Scott and two without so that she could work with Deaton on her skills. Spencer loved working there. The animals had taken to her quickly. It seemed that any animal that walked through the door, Spencer could get to calm down instantly. Deaton told her it had something to do with her supernatural background, to which Spencer only smiled. She embraced her witch. Using what she learned during her lessons when no one was home. Or at her new home anyway, having moved into the Stilinski household a few days after finding out about the Alpha.

Stiles was more than ecstatic having her live under the same roof as her. He figured that she would never get away with anything, including having her werewolf boyfriend spend the night, which is what he was really worried about. The problem was he didn't have the hearing that they did. Spencer had him over every night and he was gone before their alarms went off in the morning. They weren't doing anything. Spencer mainly liked having him over because she felt safe around him. She couldn't sleep until he was sitting in her lounge chair, keeping watch. Sometimes he would even crawl into the bed and sleep for a little bit. That was only if Spencer forced him to because he looked exhausted.

Tonight was different. Derek had been exhausted, but he had caught a whiff of a particular scent and went to check it out, leaving Spencer sleeping soundly. It was probably one of the worst mistakes of his life.

After Derek left, Spencer remained sleeping. She tossed and turned, dreaming about Derek. Once she thought about it, after the fact, she wouldn't call it a dream, but a nightmare. He was running, jumping from building to building, trying to evade something. She couldn't see what. She awoke with a start and a pain in her arm. She let out a scream, and sat up in her bed, gripping her arm as tightly as possible, trying to force the pain out of her arm. Within a minute, two men were bursting through her door. Spencer clutched her arm and rocked back and forth.

"Spencer?" Stiles called trying to get her attention. "Spencer?"

"Stiles! My arm!" she screamed, tears starting to roll down her face. "My arm! It hurts!" Sheriff Stilinski stood by the door, panicked and not sure what to do.

"Stiles, what should I do?" the sheriff asked. "Should I call someone? Her mom? Has this ever happened before?"

"Dad, hold on!" he shouted over Spencer's screams. He turned his attention back to his friend. "Spencer, let me see your arm." Stiles gripped both of his friend's arm taking one away from the other. "Spence, there's nothing wrong with your arm."

"What do you mean there's nothing wrong with my arm!?" Spencer shouted at her friend. "Stiles, I feel like I've been shot." She grabbed ahold of her arm again.

"And you've been shot to have something to compare this to?" Spencer groaned and glared at her friend. "Dad, she's fine. You can go back to bed. I'll calm her down." Even though he really didn't want to leave, he listened to his son and left the room. "Spencer, listen to me. There is nothing wrong with your arm. Look at it." Stiles held out Spencer's arm for her to see. She looked down and didn't see anything there. It clicked in her brain that there was nothing wrong and the pain slowly subsided. She took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"I'm sorry, Stiles." Spencer apologized.

"You're fine, Spencer. But what happened?" Stiles asked. "I mean, you got my dad out of bed outta the speed of light. That doesn't happen anymore. The man's getting old."

"Stiles, I don't know what happened." Spencer said, obviously incredibly annoyed. "I was sleeping and I woke up with a pain in my arm. I'm sorry that I freaked everyone out, but that's all that happened. I don't remember my dream." She said, telling the truth. She didn't remember, but it scared her that she was waking up with the pain in her arm.

"Okay." Stiles said gently. "You're okay, though?"

Spencer nodded. "Can you stay here? Just in case." She was so used to falling asleep with Derek there. Since he was out, running around somewhere, there was no way that she would get to sleep, especially after this weird occurrence.

Stiles didn't even hesitate. "Of course." Spencer moved over on her bed and helped him to get under the comforter. She curled herself up to her friend, finally taking it in that he didn't even have a shirt on. She tensed up a little bit after noticing this, but she quickly fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.

Throughout the day Spencer couldn't help but scratch at the spot that hurt that morning when she woke up. It still drove her crazy that she didn't know what happened. She'd have to remind herself to ask Deaton about it when she worked next. The day went by slowly and soon she was sitting in her least favorite class of the day. She sat next to Stiles who was behind Scott. Their teacher was passing back their most recent tests. Spencer's leg was jumping up and down. She had to admit that she hadn't been focusing on her schoolwork as much lately, being so overwhelmed with everything supernatural. She took a deep breath as her teacher laid the test on her desk with a red 'A+' on the top. She sighed in relief.

Stiles tapped on Scott's shoulders, distracting Spencer from her mini-celebration in her head. "If Derek isn't the Alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?" he asked. Spencer rolled her eyes, thinking that her and Scott should stop telling Stiles things because he gets so paranoid about everything.

Scott looked to Spencer almost asking her what he should say. Stiles followed his gaze to Spencer who shrugged. "I don't know." Scott answered. Stiles fell back in his seat, before thinking of another question.

"Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?"

"I don't know." Scott said again.

Stiles leaned back again sighed. "Does Allison's dad know about the Alpha?"

"I don't know!" Scott half-yelled turning in his seat, making everybody turn to look at him. He caught Spencer's eye on the way back to facing the front. She motioned with her hand for him to calm down. Scott nodded. The teacher handed Stiles his test with an 'A' on it and Scott got a 'D-'. Both Spencer and Stiles leaned forward to look at Scott's test.

"Dude, you need to study more." Stiles told him. Scott flopped his paper on the desk, upset by his grade and Stiles' remark. "That was a joke." Stiles informed him. Scott shook his head.

"Scott, it's just one test." Spencer promised him. "You can make it up. I'll even help you study." Spencer held up her test to show of her 'A+'.

Scott sighed. "No. Thanks though. I'm studying with Allison today after school." Spencer nodded.

Stiles raised his eyebrows and sat up straight in surprise. "That's my boy."

Spencer scoffed. "Stiles…" she warned.

"We're just studying." Scott assured.

"Uh, no you're not." Stiles corrected.

"He's not?" Spencer asked.

Stiles shook his head at her. "Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through him." Spencer shook her head and his stupidity. Stiles turned to Scott. "If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to God, I'll have you de-balled."

"Stiles!" she whispered, surprised, before turning back to her book to take notes.

"Okay!" Scott said, probably just to shut him up. "Just… Stop with the questions, man."

Stiles shook his head. "Done. No more questions." Stiles agreed. "No more talk about the Alpha or Derek." Stiles looked over to Spencer, working diligently. "Especially Derek…" he trailed off. He turned back to his own desk and stared at his hands. "Who still scares me." Stiles, though, wasn't just scared of Derek alone, but also of what he was doing to Spencer.

Spencer herself was worrying about that. She was completely different person now that she met Derek. He made her feel the need to not worry about certain things so much, like the label of boyfriend or girlfriend. She was free to do what she wanted, but knew that Derek would be there at the end of the day for her.

The bell rang moments later, signaling the end of the day. Stiles and Spencer walked out of the school together his arm around her shoulders, just as always. Spencer enjoyed this time she had with her best friend away from Derek. Even if she really only wanted to be with Derek, she still liked her time with Stiles. The two got to his Jeep quickly so that they didn't get stuck in the after school traffic.

"You work today?" Stiles asked Spencer. She shook her head. "Taco Bell?" She nodded as he pulled out of his parking spot. "Good," Stiles said, switching to drive, "because I am hun – "

Spencer looked forward seeing Derek standing there with his arm raised in the air. "Stiles! Stop!" Stiles quickly slammed on his breaks almost swerving to the side.

"Oh, my God!" Stiles gasped, seeing what was in front of him. Spencer jumped out of the car and got to his side.

"Derek!" she said worried. "Derek, what the hell?" he grabbed for her, but fell to the ground. Spencer dropped to her knees next to him. "Derek, sit up." she ordered, helping him get his head off of the ground. As soon as she touched him, it was like the pain in her arm from this morning came back. She backed her hand away and scratched at the spot. Scott rushed over to the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" Scott asked.

"I was shot." Derek said, breathily.

"He's not looking so good." Stiles, who had just came over, pointed out.

"Why aren't you healing?" Spencer asked, worry written clear through her voice. He looked to her, hearing the worry.

"I – I can't." Derek stumbled. "It was… it was a d – different kind of bullet."

"A silver bullet?" Stiles questioned.

"No, you idiot." Derek snapped back.

"Wait, wait." Scott said, remembering something. "That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours."

"What?!" Derek and Spencer asked at the same time.

"Who… Who said forty-eight hours?" Derek asked, struggling still to catch his breath.

"The one who shot you." Scott said. Derek groaned, feeling so much pain. His eyes started to change to his icy blue that they were when he was shifted. There were horns honking all around them. "What are you doing? Stop that!" Scott ordered.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, I can't!" Derek breathed heavily.

"Derek, get up!" Scott ordered.

"Scott, we gotta get him out of here." Spencer warned. "If he shifts here, there's no telling what would happen." Spencer reached for him again, but the second her hand touched his shoulder, the pain came back into her arm. She jerked back. She furrowed her brow questioningly at Derek, who didn't understand why she jerked away from him so quickly. Scott got up and moved behind Derek to help him up.

"Stiles, help me get him in your car."

"What?!" Stiles exclaimed.

"Stiles, please." Spencer begged. "We gotta get him outta here." Stiles saw the look in her eyes and groaned. She had won. Spencer hugged Stiles quickly, before climbing in the passenger side to get in the back of the Jeep. Scott and Stiles shoveled Derek into the passenger seat and Scott shut the door.

"Scott." Derek started. "I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Scott questioned.

"'Cause she's an Argent!" Derek assured. "She's with them."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because you need me."

Spencer groaned. "As much as I'd hate to break up this bonding moment, we have to get going."

"Fine." Scott said. "I'll try." Stiles loaded himself into the Jeep. "Get him outta here." Scott ordered.

Stiles scoffed. "I hate you for this so much." He said before driving off.

Spencer sighed. "Let me see this thing." She ordered. Derek nodded as he shed his jacket.

"Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay?" Stiles said sarcastically. "We're almost there."

"Almost where?" Derek asked.

Stiles sighed. "Your house." he said, as if it were obvious.

"What?" Derek questioned. "No, you can't take me there."

Stiles shook his head, "I can't take you to your own house?"

"Not when I can't protect myself."

Stiles pulled over to the side of the road. He parked the car and turned to face Derek. "What happens if Scott doesn't find you little magic bullet?" Stiles questioned. "Hmm? Are you dying?"

"Stiles, stop it." Spencer begged.

Derek shook his head. "Not yet."

"What?!" Spencer exclaimed. "What do you mean 'not yet'?"

Derek looked at her for a second, breathing heavily. "I have a last resort."

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked. "What last resort?" Derek rolled up his sleeve revealing where he was shot. Spencer gasped when she saw it instinctively grabbing at her own arm. It was the same spot that was in pain when she woke up in the middle of the night. Instantly she remembered her dream of Derek jumping from building to building. "Oh, my God. What is that?" Stiles asked. "Oh, is that contagious?"

"Sti – " Spencer started, but Stiles just interrupted her.

"You know what, you should probably get out."

"Start the car." Derek ordered. "Now."

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way that you look, okay? In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."

"Stiles, stop it!" Spencer ordered. "If you would just slow down and realize what's going on here." Stiles looked at her confused. Spencer groaned. "Look where he got shot." She ordered. Stiles looked down at Derek's arm, regretfully, feeling a little squeamish. Spencer held out her arm from this morning. Stiles' jaw dropped when it clicked in his head.

"Oh, my God." Stiles gasped. "Do you think that's part of your witchy stuff?"

"The connection that I have with him, moreover." Spencer corrected. "I can't touch him without feeling the pain in my arm along with him."

"What the hell are you two going on about?" Derek asked, angrily.

Spencer sighed. "Last night, I woke up screaming. I had a pain in my arm in that exact spot. I didn't think anything of it. I should have. I should have listened to my instincts and known you were in trouble."

Derek shook his head to tell her otherwise, but Stiles beat her to it. "Spence, you couldn't have known." Stiles beating him to comforting her, made Derek angry.

Derek growled. "Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out… with my teeth."

"Derek, don't make such empty threats." Spencer warned.

Stiles thought he was being serious so he started the car and drove off. They drove around in silence being sure to hit the drive-thru since they were hungry. It got dark and Stiles pulled over once again to call Scott.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked into his phone.

Spencer sighed and turned to Derek. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, leaving Stiles to make his phone call.

Derek nodded. "Nothing I can't handle."

Spencer bit her lip and nodded. She sighed. "Are you really dying?" He turned to look at her. He noticed how her eyes were glistening, searching his for a truthful answer. He couldn't lie to her.

He nodded. "If Scott doesn't get that bullet." Spencer breath hitched in her throat. She kept Derek's gaze for another second, but looked away quickly, grabbing her book bag from behind her. She pulled out her notebook. "What are you doing?" Derek asked her.

"There, uh – " Spencer sniffled. "There has to be something in here. I mean, anything that could help stall it. Even if I knew what it was." Spencer held her hands over the notebook in her hands. "Weapons against werewolves." The book opened to a page and Spencer got to work on reading the entire section. Derek stared at her for a moment.

"Red." He said. She didn't look away from the book, but hmmed in response. "Red," he urged again.

"What?" Spencer asked, looking up.

"He'll get the bullet."

Spencer sighed, nodded her head, and returned to reading her book.

"You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you." Stiles told Derek, handing the older man his phone.

"Did you find it?" Derek asked, waiting for Scott's answer. "Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, alright? … Then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him, or you get killed. So if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet." Derek said before hanging up the phone. "Go." Derek ordered Stiles.

"Where are we going?" Spencer asked.

"The animal clinic." Stiles answered. He drove quickly, not bothering to pay attention to the speed limits. They arrived at the clinic and Spencer jumped out of the back to go get the spare key to the garage. Stiles helped Derek out of the Jeep while Spencer opened the door. They got inside, and Spencer turned on the light. Stiles' phone beeped and he checked it. "Does Nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you?" Stiles asked Derek.

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane." Derek sighed. Spencer perked up. She held her book out again.

"Nordic blue monkshood." She said, as it opened to the page, she read quickly. "Tell Scott he has to bring us the bullet."

"Why?" Stiles asked.

"Because I'm going to die without it." Stiles looked to Spencer. He saw that her eyes were watering, and his heart broke for her.


	25. T W E N T Y - F O U R

"Stiles, tell Scott that if he doesn't get here with that damn bullet within a half hour, I will personally hide wolfsbane in his room somewhere where he won't find it." Spencer threatened starting at Stiles. Stiles just nodded and sent the text to Scott. Spencer took it upon herself to get out of the storage area of the clinic and go inside. The boys quickly followed her as they found themselves in a sort of operating room with a metal slab in the middle. Derek took his shirt off and leaned against the table. Stiles went opposite him while Spencer stood next to the arm that was hurt, with her notebook out in front of her. "You know, there's gotta be some sorta WebMD crap for werewolves where I can just take a picture of your arm and it'll tell me what I should do." Spencer complained.

"Well, to me," Stiles started. "that really doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night sleep couldn't take care of." Spencer glowered at Stiles. He took it as his time to not be a smart ass.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me." Derek said. He was still having a very hard time breathing, struggling more than ever to get his words out. Derek walked to the cabinets and started rifling through them.

"'Positivity' just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time… last resort." Derek struggled, ignoring Stiles. Spencer walked up beside Derek, careful not to touch him. She needed to think straight and she couldn't if she was in just as much pain as he was.

"Derek, what do you need me to do? What can I do?" She pleaded. Derek ignored her and opened up a drawer.

"What's your plan?" Stiles asked. Derek pulled a metal tool out of the drawer and turned to Stiles.

"You're gonna cut off my arm." As if it were that easy. Stiles looked at him, taken aback like Derek had just asked him to kill him.

"I'm sorry. What?!" Spencer shouted. Derek turned to Spencer. "Stiles will not be cutting off your arm. Scott's gonna get the bullet."

"And if he doesn't get it in time, the infection will get into my heart, spread through my entire bloodstream and I drop dead, right here!" Derek shouted at her. Spencer cowered away. "Is that what you want?!" Spencer shook her head and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Spencer turned away from Derek and rifled through the drawer in front of her.

"Y – you're gonna need some sort of…uh, tourniquet." She said, pulling out some sort of blue, stretchy string-like thing. Derek could tell that she really wasn't happy with this, but she was gonna help him anyway. He hated putting her in this position. Why had he gone up to her that day at lacrosse practice? Derek knew it was just gonna lead to trouble and conflicting emotions. He had felt bad for yelling at her, but it was the only way to get her to think about the situation logically. Derek moved to the table and put the saw on it, sliding it to Stiles. He picked it up and turned it on. It scared him so he gasped and put it back down. Derek held up his arm for Spencer to tie the string around Derek's upper arm tightly.

"What if you bleed to death?" Stiles asked.

"Well, that's what the tourniquet is for." Spencer informed, shakily. "To slow the bleeding. And given that he's a werewolf, and he heals rather quickly, we're kinda just relying on that right now."

"Ugh." Stiles groaned. "Look, I don't' know if I can do this?"

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!"

Derek dropped his hand. "You faint at the sight of blood?"

"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped – off arm!"

Derek sighed. "Alright. Fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head."

Stiles backed away from the table. "Okay, you know what, I'm so not buying your threats any – " Stiles meant to continue his sentence, but Derek grabbed him by his shirt with his good arm and pulled him across the table so that Stiles was in his face. "Oh, my God."

Spencer gasped. "Derek, stop!" Derek and Stiles both turned to the girl. "I'll do it." She said. Derek gave her a questioning look. Spencer shook her head. "Let him go." She ordered. He didn't let go, but he started to breath heavily and look away from both of them. He was almost heaving. Derek turned over the table and vomited up some sort of black crap. "Uh, what the hell is that?" Spencer asked.

Derek continued to lay over the table with his arm laid against it. "It's my body trying to heal itself.

Stiles almost gagged, himself. "Well, it's not doing a very good job of it."

"Now." Derek said. "Whoever is gonna do it, you gotta do it now." He begged. Stiles and Spencer both looked back to the saw then to each other.

"Look, honestly, I don't think I can." Stiles admitted. Spencer nodded and reached for the saw first, picking it up in her hand. She moved around the table to get a better angle. She tested out the saw, making sure she could figure it out.

"Alright, you ready?" Spencer questioned, rhetorically.

"Oh, God, I can't watch this." Stiles said turning away from the scene. Spencer placed the saw against Derek's arm and took a few deep breaths. Her world slowed as she prepared herself to saw off another person's arm, something that she never thought she'd be doing, given the fact that surgeon wasn't on her list of dream careers.

"Stiles!" she heard being called faintly, but paid no attention, her focus on Derek's arm. "Spencer!" the same voice called. She was about to push the button when she felt hands grasp her shoulders and pull her backwards. Her breathing got faster as she took in her surroundings, seeing Scott now standing in the walkway and Stiles behind her, holding her back.

"Holy - !" she shouted before dropping the saw to the ground. "I can't believe I almost did that.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked Scott. Scott reached into his pants pocket, pulled out the bullet and handed it to Derek. He stood up straight, holding it out in front of him. The three teens stared at him, waiting for him to tell them what to do.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked.

Derek's eye lids strained to stay open. "I'm gonna…" he started to wobble on his feet like he was becoming dizzy. "I'm gonna…" he said softer this time. Before the three had time to react, the bullet was leaving Derek's fingers and he was falling to the floor.

"No, no!" Scott called chasing after the bullet.

Spencer ran around the table to check on Derek. "Derek!" she called, worry written clear in her voice. She kneeled down beside him, and reached for him, but drew back when she felt the pain come back into her arm. "No, Derek. Wake up!" she said, leaning over him. "Stiles, do something!" she screamed at her friend. Stiles joined her on the floor, shaking him.

"Derek." Stiles grabbed Derek's face in his hands and shook him around, slapping his cheek lightly to get him up. "Derek, come on, wake up."

"It's not working!"

Stiles groaned, not really knowing what to do himself. "Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?" he called. Scott was reaching under a cabinet. The bullet had fallen down into a vent.

"I don't know!" he yelled back. "I can't reach it."

"He's not waking up!" Stiles informed. Stiles continued to move Derek's head around, to jostle him awake. "I think he's dying." He finally admitted. "I think he's dead."

"Derek…" Spencer whined, before turning her attention to Stiles. "He can't be dead, Stiles. The damn bullet is here! That's all he needs."

"In case you haven't noticed, we can't get to it!" Stiles snapped.

"You're just giving up, because you never liked him in the first place!"

"Just hold on!" Scott shouted to stop the arguing. He focused on the bullet. Spencer could feel Scott start to change, but it wasn't as strong as a full shift. "I got it!" he shouted, getting off the floor.

"How am I supposed to wake a sleeping werewolf?" Stiles asked. Spencer shrugged and stood up, not really wanting to talk to him after he snapped at her. He groaned. "Please don't kill me for this." He said to Derek's sleeping form. Stiles drew back his fist, and brought it down hard on Derek's face. Stiles grumbled at the contact, obviously not enjoying the feeling. Derek shook awake, reaching for the bullet.

"Give me…" he called to Scott. Scott handed over the bullet and he and Stiles helped Derek to his feet, Spencer standing back, then moving around the table. Stiles was still complaining about his hurt fist. Derek bit the top off of the bullet and spit it out onto the table. He emptied out the powdered contents and lit it up with his lighter, making it look like a sparkler and omit a purple smoke. Derek scooped it all into his hand and prepared himself to put it on his arm. He took a deep breath and slammed his hand into his arm, pushing the powder into the bullet hole. He screamed out in agony. He expected it to be in pain, but he didn't expect Spencer to grab her arm and scream, too.

"Spencer?" Stiles called, moving to her side. She cried out louder, pushing herself back against the wall. Derek, distracted by his own pain, fell into a writhing mess on the floor. Stiles grabbed onto Spencer, still unsure of what to do, but felt he needed to comfort her. Soon, the wound on Derek's arm began to heal quickly. Spencer's screams faded, but her fallen tears remained on her face. Stiles breathed. "That was awesome."

Spencer sniffled. "Maybe from your point of view." She grumbled. Derek pushed himself off of the floor.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked.

"Well, except for the agonizing pain." He said, looking to Spencer, who wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Stiles said, keeping his arm wrapped around Spencer shoulders. Derek looked up and glowered at him.

"Okay, we saved your life." Scott said. "which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that?" Scott turned to Spencer. "All of us. After what I just saw, with her being in pain when you were, you're leaving Spencer out of this. And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, I'm gonna tell them everything."

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek asked. "You think they can help you?"

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are."

"I can show you exactly how nice they are." Derek stated.

Scott looked at Derek, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's go." Derek said to the three kids.

Spencer shook her head. "I'm going home." She said, defiantly. "Stiles, take me home." She walked out Stiles' grasp and out of the clinic without even a look in Derek's direction. Derek stared at her longingly wishing that she would just come with him. She needed to see this just as much as Scott did. But he just let her go. She'd been through enough tonight. Stiles quickly followed after her, but when he got outside, she was already, sitting in the passenger seat, just waiting for him. He sighed, climbing into his Jeep and taking off towards his house. The ride was silent with Spencer staring out the windshield, holding onto her arm. Stiles stole glances at her just to make sure that she was still okay, and breathing. They got to the house and emptied themselves from the Jeep. They noticed the police cruiser wasn't in the driveway, so the sheriff wasn't home yet. Stiles followed her up the stairs and to her bedroom door, before he stopped and grabbed her arm.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. I need some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Spencer stepped into her room and closed the door, leaving Stiles out in the hall with a wrong answer. He sighed and just continued onto his room.

Spencer went to her window as soon as she entered the room and closed it shut. She didn't bother changing before she threw herself down on her bed. She grabbed a blanket and folded it up so she could cuddle herself around it. Ever since she had learned about the werewolf situation of Beacon Hills, Spencer hated sleeping alone. Cuddling with a blanket could substitute for not having someone there with her. Yeah, she could have called Stiles in to stay with her, but she wanted to be alone. She was so angry with Derek. He had yelled at her, made her feel inadequate, like she was no help to him. She had almost completely fell asleep when she heard a knock at her window.

She sighed. "Go away." She said quietly, knowing all too well that a certain blue-eyed werewolf was perched on a tree branch trying to get inside. Derek knocked again. "I said, go away." Derek huffed and pushed the window up anyway, jumping inside, lightly landing on his feet. Spencer turned away from the wall to face Derek. "Dammit, Derek. Do you ever listen to anyone?"

Derek didn't answer her questioned but presented her with his own. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Derek, get out. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Red, you're not fine."

"Oh, what do you know?" she accused before turning away from him, facing the wall again.

"I know what I just saw. I saw you, in pain, because of me."

"So what? Pain stopped. I got over it."

"You're not over it." Derek stated. "If you were, you'd be able to look at me. You haven't since I yelled at you. I only did it so you would listen to me."

"Yeah, well it worked. And I almost sawed your arm off." Spencer groaned, standing up from her bed and getting in front of Derek. "You don't think that that is going to haunt me for a little bit? I felt your pain, Derek. Last night, when I touched you, and when you put the wolfsbane into your arm. And it hurt a lot. I scared the crap outta Pops, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to explain it to him. I can see it now. 'This guy that comes over every night while you're sleeping, Derek Hale, the one you arrested, he's a werewolf and he got shot last night and I could feel it because I'm a witch.' Sounds exactly like the kind of conversation that could put me in the nuthouse." Spencer sighed, and backed away from him to sit on her bed.

"That's not what this is about, is it?" Derek asked her, quietly.

Spencer sighed again. "Derek, you almost died tonight. You don't seem to understand how taxing that is on me or anyone for that matter." Derek turned away from her. "It's crap that you think that you're so alone that you couldn't come to me after you were shot. Or Scott, even Stiles. It makes me feel like you don't want my help."

"I don't want your help. I don't need anyone." Derek grumbled.

"But you do." Spencer argued. "Do you really think that you could've gotten that bullet from the Argents without them killing you on the spot? Scott did that. For you. Stiles and I helped you get to the clinic and we, well, I was ready to saw your arm off. Because it would help you live."

"I didn't ask you to. Stiles was supposed to – "

"It doesn't matter who you asked to do it. It matters that I was willing to and you weren't grateful at all. I would do just about anything for you. I really like you, but you care too much about yourself."

"Red…" he said, taking a step towards her. She took a step back.

"Derek, stop!" she shouted, instantly regretting it, as she heard footsteps running down the hall and bursting into her room. Stiles appeared in front of the two. He noticed Spencer standing defensively in front of Derek, and instantly joined her side.

"What are you doing?" he asked Derek.

"He was just leaving." Spencer insisted, glaring in the older wolf's direction. Derek huffed in a deep breath and nodded in their direction. He left through the window, and Stiles followed in his path to close the window, making sure to lock it this time. Spencer let out a cry and fell onto her bed back into her position facing the wall and cuddling her blanket. She sniffled.

Stiles took a step toward her bed. "Spence…" he trailed off.

"Stiles, I told you. I'm fine." But she wasn't. Stiles could hear it in her voice. He sighed, and laid down in her bed next to her. He put his arms around her and she lost it. She let out a sob. "I'm sorry."

Stiles shushed her. "It's okay, Spencer. I'll always be here for you." she nodded. "Best friends, remember?"


	26. T W E N T Y - F I V E

The next night, Spencer sat alone in her room at the Stilinski household, trying her best to focus on her homework. Every now and then she would glace over at the locked window, wondering if there was some way that she could punch Derek in the face from so far away. Spencer hated herself for ever letting things go the way that they did with Derek. She wished that she just ignored their first kiss and went on like nothing had ever happened. She and Stiles would have been happy. She knew she loved him as her best friend and she knew that she could have loved him as more if they had only had more time. Spencer often wondered if he ever felt the same and if they could move passed what happened with tall, dark, and moody.

Just as she finished her English homework she heard a knock at her door. She looked up from her book and took her ear buds out of her ears. "Hey, Pops." She said, with a smile. "What's going on? I thought you were working."

The sheriff smiled and leaned against the door frame. "I was." He said, pointedly. "But on Wednesdays, Stiles and I always go out for burgers while I'm on the late shift for dinner. I wondered if you wanted to come."

Spencer shook her head. "I couldn't. I mean, that's your time with him. I usually take up the rest of his time. He's your family."

"Oh, come on now, you're family, too."

"Spencer, just say yes!" Stiles called from his room.

Spencer rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Alright. But just dinner. I still have a lot of homework to do."

"Great." The sheriff said. "We'll get going in ten." Spencer nodded, pushing her books off her lap and spreading them out around her bed. She didn't feel like changing so she stayed in Stiles' t-shirt and sweatpants that she stole for sleeping in. Spencer threw her long, straight, red hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She walked out of her room and to Stiles'. He was lying in bed, reading a book, something that surprised Spencer. She smiled and ran to his bed to jump in next to him. Stiles groaned in protest as he was jostled amongst his sheets.

"Whacha readin'?" Spencer asked.

Stiles waved it off. "Book for school." He said, simply, marking his page with a folded triangle in the corner. He took in what she was wearing. "Gosh, Spence. Will you stop stealing my clothes?"

"No." she smiled. Then she thought about him and her, what she was thinking about earlier. What happened between him and her with Derek. "Hey, so I was thinking. I know I apologized like a million times. But a couples weeks ago, what happened with Derek, I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't let it affect me as much as it did. I didn't even give you a chance. I wish I gave you…us a chance." Stiles just stared at her for a moment. It was like his prayers had been answered. Spencer still had feelings for him. "I mean, you don't really have to say anything, but after last night, I realized it was a mistake. I regret kissing him and not staying with you."

"You do?" Stiles asked. Spencer nodded. Stiles swung his legs over so that he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Spencer was still lying on the bed behind him. "Well, you know, it doesn't have to be that way."

"What do you mean?"

Stiles shrugged. "We could still have a chance. If you wanted."

"Is that what you want?"

"Hell, yeah." He said, turning back at Spencer who had an eyebrow raised. "Uh, I mean, I guess. That'd be cool."

Spencer smiled and shrugged. "Well, let's just see how things go." Stiles gulped and nodded, really excited about where this was going to take them.

"Stiles! Spencer! Let's go!" Spencer smiled, got up faster than Stiles, quickly kissed him on the cheek and rushed out of his room.

"Shotgun!" Spencer shouted. This left Stiles to sit in shock on his bed. His heart was beating out of his chest. He was going to like Spencer living here.

"Stiles!" his father called again, scaring him. He tripped rushing out his room and almost tumbled down the stairs.

~~~~~

"Stiles, we can't both fit in the front seat." Spencer complained as her friend tried to move her over with the bag from the burger shop in his hand.

"Yeah, you're skinny. I'm skinny. Make it work. I'm not spending time with my family behind bars."

"You could if you keep intruding in your dad's cases the way you are."

"True." The sheriff said, taking the drinks from Spencer's hands so she could move easier. Stiles was able to get in the front seat with Spencer but she had basically been pushed to sit with her legs on top of Stiles' lap. She sighed at the position, but got herself comfortable. Stiles passed out the burgers. The sheriff dug into his.

"Stiles, curly fry me." Spencer said. "You know I gotta eat my fries first." Stiles passed her the bag, the fries had all spilled in the bag.

"MMM." Sheriff Stilinski said, in regards to the taste of the greasy food. "Did they forget my curly fries?"

"You're not supposed to eat fries." Stiles informed his father. "Especially the curly ones."

The sheriff scoffed. "I'm carrying a lethal weapon. If I want the curly fries, I will have the curly fries." Spencer snickered at this while Stiles just rolled his eyes.

"If you think getting rid of contractions in all your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, you are wrong."

Spencer smiled. "He's right though, Pops. No offense but you are getting old. You can't keep eating crap like us." The sheriff shot them both an accusing look. Spencer just showed a classy smile and shrugged her shoulders. Stiles grinned at his own witty comment and took a sip from his soda.

The police radio that was in front of Spencer beeped once and dispatch spoke. "Unit one, do you copy?" Stiles reached in front of Spencer to respond, but the sheriff slapped his hand away and cleared his throat. Stiles looked at him confused, but pulled away.

"Sorry." He said.

The sheriff picked up the receiver and pushed the button to speak into it. "Unit one, copy."

The radio beeped again and dispatch answered. "Got a report of a possible 187."

"A murder?" Stiles and Spencer said at the same time only Stiles had curly fries in his mouth and they spilled out onto Spencer's lap.

"Ew!" Spencer exclaimed. "Stiles, what the hell?" she asked him, glaring in his direction. "Alright, you need to go. Back in the back, buddy." Stiles shot Spencer a look with his doe eyes, but she didn't fall for it, she pushed him against the door. "Go!" she ordered.

~~~~~

The cruiser pulled up to the video rental store and Spencer looked around, seeing Jackson standing at an ambulance with Lydia sitting inside. "Oh, my gosh. Lydia." She gasped, pushing the door open.

"Spencer, let me out." Stiles ordered, from behind the grate. The sheriff opened his door but turned back to Stiles.

"You stay at the car." he told his son. "Spencer, go make sure your friend is okay." Spencer nodded and walked over to Lydia, leaving Stiles locked in the back seat just in case.

She didn't really know what to do since she had never really had a friend that was a girl so she stood next to Jackson. "Lydia, are you okay?"

She nodded, but the expression on her face told Spencer that she wasn't. "I'm fine." Lydia insisted. "I just wanna go home. It's all the adrenaline."

Jackson nodded, noticing the police cruiser had pulled up. "I'll be right back." Lydia nodded.

"Are you sure you're okay? What happened? What did you see?" Spencer asked. Lydia opened her mouth but no words came out. She couldn't recognize what she saw. She didn't want to think about it. "Was it a mountain lion? Or something else?" she asked, trying to decide if it was the alpha.

Lydia hesitated at first when she did answer, she spoke with half-confidence. "Mountain lion."

Spencer sighed. "Alright, look. When you're cleared to go home, take something for your nerves and go to sleep. It was just a mountain lion and it's gone now." Lydia nodded. Spencer walked over to the cruiser and let Stiles out of the back. They stood at the car. "She thinks it was a mountain lion. I'm not so sure. If it was, I don't think she would be that freaked out about it. Whatever she saw was not a little mountain lion." Stiles nodded, and looked to his father who was joined by Jackson, who was yelling at the sheriff.

"What part of 'I'm fine' are you having a problem grasping? Okay, I wanna go home."

The sheriff nodded, speaking calmly. "And I understand that."

"No, you don't understand, which kind of blows my mind, since it should be pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you! Okay, now, I wanna go _home_!" Jackson shouted in Sheriff Stilinski's face.

"All the more reason to want to punch him in the face." Spencer said, quietly to Stiles, who was staring passed the whole scene.

He pointed towards the shop door. "Oh, whoa, is that a dead body?" he asked, a little too loudly. Everyone's attention was drawn towards the store entrance. The sheriff looked from the boy being pulled out on a gurney back to his son with an unbelieving look. Stiles cowered back into the car an Spencer closed the door on him before moving to open the passenger side door. She took another look around smelling the air. She had to admit it was weird for her to do, but her smelling senses were heightened and she smelled a scent she recognized. She looked up to the roof of the building seeing Scott and Derek watching everything from above. She smiled at Scott and got in the car ignoring Derek, but not their conversation. She focused until she could hear it.

~~~~~

"Have you seen Scott this morning?" Spencer asked Stiles, as she pulled a few books out of her locker. "I've got a bone to pick with him."

"How could I? I've been with you all morning."

"Yeah, but I figured you would want to ask him about last night. Since he was there. With Derek."

"He what?" Stiles asked, leaning up against the locker next to hers.

"Oh, yeah. I meant to tell you when we got home, but I forgot. He was watching from above. They were on the roof. Talking about why the alpha's doing all of this."

"Alpha?" Stiles questioned. "They think the alpha did that?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Spencer joked. "You were there. You heard your dad. Throat slashed. Just like the bus driver. Granted, the guy last night wasn't nearly as tortured as the bus driver…"

"Well, now I've got to talk to him." The first bell rang signaling them to go to their first class after homeroom. Spencer slammed her locker shut and walked next to Stiles to Harris' class. She completely ignored Harris as she walked to her normal seat in the back at a table with Stiles. The two just grabbed their chemistry books out of their bags and began taking their own notes. The late bell rang and Harris instantly began talking not waiting for the late stragglers to come in.

"Just a friendly reminder…" he said, "Parent – teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a 'C' average are required to attend. I won't name you, because the shame an self-disgust should be more than enough punishment." Harris stopped at Stiles and Spencer's table. "Has anyone seen Scott McCall?" Harris looked down to them, seeing Spencer taking notes and Stiles furiously highlighting in his textbook. Noticing that he was stopped they both looked up and shook their heads. Jackson entered the room just after not looking so good. He was probably going crazy over what happened last night. They heard that Jackson was actually in there with the attacker while Lydia was waiting in the car. Harris walked to Jackson, put a hand on his shoulder and talked with him privately. He walked away shortly after and up to the front of the class. "Everyone, start reading chapter nine." Harris ordered. "Mr. Stilinski, he said with his back turned. Stiles looked up with the highlighter cap in his mouth. Spencer snickered at him. "Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a coloring book. Stiles rolled his eyes, spit the cap up into the air, and caught it in his hand.

Spencer nudged him. "Hey, if you wanna color, go on with your bad self. Stick it to the man." Stiles smiled at her. "Any word from Scott?" Stiles shook his head. "What about what happened last night? What happened with Lydia? Ask Danny if he knows what happened."

Stiles nodded and turned around on his stool. "Hey, Danny." He said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No." Danny said, simply.

"Well, I'm going to anyway. Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?"

Danny sighed. "No."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Answer's still no."

"Does anyone know what happened to her and Jackson last night?"

Danny sighed and hesitated. "He wouldn't…tell me."

"But he's your best friend." Stiles pointed out.

"Stiles." Spencer scolded. Danny just shrugged his shoulders. There wasn't much that he could do if his friend wasn't talking to him.

"One more question." Stiles said.

"What?" Danny questioned, getting impatient.

"Do you find me attractive?"

Spencer pulled him back around to face the desk the right way. "Stiles, you're not gay."

"How do you know?" he asked her. Spencer sighed and looked up at Harris desk. He was distracted with grading papers. She pulled his shirt towards her and their lips met in a hard kiss. She pushed him away and turned to her book.

"Because you enjoyed that." she said, writing a chemical formula in her notebook. Stiles was lost in a daze.

"Whoa." Stiles said, dreamily. "Can we do that again?"

Spencer shook her head and looked at him. "Maybe later." She said with a smile. Stiles smiled back and turned back to his chemistry book.

~~~~~

After their last class, Spencer forced Stiles to call their missing friend. It wasn't like him to skip out on class without telling them. Even still, he rarely ever skipped. His grade was low enough. That mixed with him not answering any of their texts, she was getting worried. Stiles walked out of the classroom dialing his number and Spencer listened in on the conversation. It was only practice, bringing out her wolf counterpart from who she was advising.

_"What?"_ Scott answered.

"Finally! Have you been getting any of our texts? Spencer and I have been texting you all morning."

_"Yeah. I know. There are nine million of them."_

"Do you have any idea what's going on? Lydia is totally M.I.A., Jackson looks like he's got a time bomb inserted into his face, another random guy's dead, and you have to do something about it."

_"Like what?"_

"Something." Stiles told him.

"Stiles, there really isn't much that he can do." Spencer admitted.

_"Okay, I'll deal with it later."_ Scott said, just before hanging up. Stiles groaned.

"We gotta get him a dog collar." Spencer told Stiles. "Chain him up outside or something."

"So what now?" Stiles asked.

"Well, I need to go home. Get my homework done. You should go check on Lydia. Make sure she's okay, or at least that she's home."

"You sure?"

Spencer nodded. "Be back before your dad leaves for the conferences, though. I'll make dinner." Stiles nodded and they walked to his Jeep to drive back home. Stiles dropped her off and drove to Lydia's. Spencer walked into the house and up to her room. She entered the room, feeling strange. She quickly looked around, before taking it upon her other senses to figure it out. First she smelled around her room, getting a musky forest scent. She listened next focusing on just outside her room. She sighed when it clicked. "What do you want, Derek?" she said, moving to her window and opening it. She watched as he climbed the tree, and jumped through her window.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"You smell. Why are you hanging around here? I don't want to talk to you."

"You've been practicing?" he asked, avoiding her question.

Spencer nodded. "Training to use my senses. They don't come as easily to me as they do you. I'm not letting what happened to you happen to Scott or Stiles. Why are you here?"

"You kissed the skinny kid."

Spencer furrowed her brow. "So you follow me to school, too? Is there anywhere in this town that I'm safe from you?"

"You're not safe from anything in this town. Not when the alpha is still out there."

"Even if I did kiss _Stiles_," she stressed his name, "it's none of your business. Even when we were…kissing, according to what you wanted, I could have kissed him if I wanted to. But I'm going to work things out with Stiles. And things are going to be like you and I never happened. I like Stiles and it was wrong to kiss you. I'm working for what I think I deserve."

"Good." Derek said.

"Good?" Spencer repeated. "That's all you have to say?"

"I've been telling you since I met you that you don't deserve what I'm offering. I don't deserve you." he said, before jumping out the window landing on his feet. Spencer sighed as he left her there with a weight lifted off her shoulders. Hopefully, she didn't have to worry about him coming around to bug her again.

* * *

**Okay, so I'm terrible, but here it is. I'm focusing solely on this story and my Star Trek one for a while, so hopefully I'll get chapters out sooner.**

I love you guys. Thanks for the comments and reads and all that jazz. You guys are great.


	27. T W E N T Y - S I X

**A/N Make sure that you've read the last chapter. I've posted two chapters one yesterday (6/28) and this one today (6/29). I just don't want you to read this and get confused because there's a bunch missing. Enjoy!**

"Spencer!" Stiles shouted as soon as he entered the front door of his house. "Spencer! We might have a problem!" he ran up the steps to Spencer's door. He threw it open, startling her as she was sitting on her bed with her headphones in doing her homework. She jumped slightly as the door swung open, and pulled out her head phones.

"Stiles! What the hell?! You know I do my homework with music! You can't do that!" she scolded.

"I announced myself. I was practically yelling, running up the steps. I definitely attempted to make my presence known."

"Okay, well, what is so important?"

"This." He said, taking a cell phone out of his pocket.

"That's not your phone. Who's is that?" she asked.

"Lydia's." he said. Spencer shot him a glare a little upset that he just stole her phone. "It's okay. She's totally high right now, she won't even know that it's gone. Plus, look at this." He pressed a few buttons on the phone and a video began playing. It was outside the video store, and it was dark. In a second, a darker figured with glowing red eyes passed the camera. Spencer gasped, taking Lydia's phone to re-watch it.

"Stiles, what the hell is that?"

Stiles sighed. "I'm not sure, but it might be the alpha."

"Call Scott. Call him, now."

"I've been trying. His phone is off."

"Call him." Spencer insisted, taking out her phone.

"Okay… You're not calling Derek, are you?" he questioned.

Spencer shook her head. "Oh, no. We're doing this on our own. He is the last thing that I need right now. I'm sending the video to myself so that we can bring Lydia's phone back. Since you stole it." She lied though and she was really sending a text to Deaton, sure, that this would be something important.

"Stole is a very strong word."

"Call Scott." Spencer stressed.

Stiles nodded, taking out his own phone and calling Scott. "Hey, it's me, again." He said. Look, I found something and I don't know what to do, okay? So, if you could turn your phone on right now, that'd be great. Or else I'll kill you. Do you understand me? I'm gonna kill you. And I'm too upset to come up with a witty description about _how_ exactly I'm gonna kill you, but I'm just gonna do it, okay? I'm gonna… urgh!" he grunted into the phone. "Good bye." He slammed his phone down on Spencer's bed and groaned, angry with his best friend. Stiles turned around to see Spencer staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Tell him how you really feel." She said, nodding. He sighed and threw himself into the cushion lounge chair in the corner of the room. Stiles laid back and placed the crook of his elbow over his eyes. "We'll figure it out, Stiles. No one else is gonna get hurt." There was a knock at the door and the two teenager's heads snapped towards it. Sheriff Stilinski was standing there, leaning against the door frame. He looked to his son.

"Please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent – teacher thing tonight." The older man begged.

Stiles hesitated, moving his hand in the air. "Depends on how you define 'good news'."

"I define it as you getting straight A's with no behavioral issues."

"You might wanna rethink that definition." He said, carefully.

"Enough said."

"Don't listen to him Pops." Spencer said, joining Stiles on the lounge chair. His arm went on the back of the chair, behind her. "He's doing great in school. The teachers only pick on him cause he's different." She patted his head.

The sheriff smiled and shook his head. "What about you? Is there anything going on with you?"

"Don't worry about me. My mom's going."

"Alright, good. You two, be good." He said, walking away. Stiles sighed and took Lydia's phone from Spencer. Spencer sighed along with her friend and leaned her head down on his shoulder.

"Stiles, it's gonna be okay."

"Yeah, I just wish Scott would answer his phone. I can't just sit here and wait around while th – this…this _thing_ is roaming the streets."

"We have to. We're only human."

"You're not." He pointed out. "And I, for one, really think you should embrace that. You could do something."

"I can't do anything." She said, sitting up and turning around to face him. "I can smell things, hear things. That's about it. I can't defend myself against that. I wouldn't even know where to begin. What to read. I have a magical book of everything and I can't understand it. I'm trying, Stiles, but there's only so much."

"Gah…" Stiles sighed. "I know." He reached forward and grabbed her hands. "I'm sorry. It would be completely stupid for you to go out there and all it would do is get yourself killed."

"Thank you for finally realizing that I'm not impervious to everything like Scott." She joked. He smiled and his eyes shot to her lips. Suddenly, Spencer became extremely self-conscious. She bit her lip before she spoke again. "Um, I'm gonna get dinner going. Pasta okay? I'll make my sauce."

"Uh," Stiles started, following her as she got off the chair, and walked to the door. "That's great. Sounds good. Awesome."

"Great." She said quickly before leaving Stiles in her room to wonder what was going on in her head. Truthfully, Spencer didn't know. She liked Stiles, and she liked kissing him, but she didn't want to force it again. She wanted it to just happen.

~~~~~

The two were sitting on the couch in the living room with Xbox controllers in each of their hands and empty pasta bowls on the coffee table. Spencer was trying to get her team to win in their most recent round of Call of Duty matches. She was down by only a few kills with a minute left. She smirked and stood from her spot on the couch and sat down right on Stiles' own lap.

"Spence!" Stiles exclaimed with a tone of laughter in his voice. "You're cheating."

"No, I'm not. I'm distracting. There's a difference." She said, as she shot two of his teammates in one go. One more to go. He pushed her off of him so he could get back his kills, only to find that she had moved right in front of his own character. She acted quickly, shot until it fell to the floor, and jumped up from the couch in victory. Stiles stood up next to her and watched the recap of the kill with his jaw dropped.

"That was definitely cheating." He said, turning towards her.

"Was not." Spencer insisted, picking up their dirty dishes and taking them into the small kitchen. "I'm just that good." Stiles followed her into the kitchen.

"I'm calling a rematch."

"You wanna help me with some dishes first?" she asked, with a big smile on her face to persuade him. Stiles' shoulders fell as he moped towards the sink. He washed while she dried and put away. Spencer made sure to save a bowl for the sheriff as well as more for leftovers tomorrow for his lunch. When Stiles finished washing he dried his hands and watched as Spencer put away the last bowl. "What?" she asked when she saw him staring at her.

"Uh, nothing. I'm just glad that you're here." He stepped towards her, hugging her before she could pull away.

"Well, good. Because I don't plan on leaving. I like living with you guys. It's nice not to pretend that I'm someone else." She said, pulling away from the hug, but he kept her at an arm's length. She saw him look to her lips again, but instead of walking out, she spoke to him. "Stiles?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for putting up with me. Through everything. And…" she shrugged, "taking me back, after all I did." Stiles smiled, and nodded. She quickly sprung on him before she could talk herself out of it to kiss him again. He sighed into it, enjoying it just as much as he enjoyed the one that day in the middle of class, if not more. Just when she let herself completely relax, the house phone rang. Since Spencer was the closest and Stiles was still in a daze, she answered it.

"Stilinski residence." She said into the phone.

_"Spencer? Is that you? It's Melissa McCall."_

"Momma McCall? What's going on?" she asked, curiously.

_"Well, it's the sheriff. He got hit by a car backing out of a parking spot at the school."_ She managed to say as gently as she could.

"Pops?" she said, looking up at Stiles with worried eyes. "God, tell me he's okay." she begged. Stiles got equally worried and joined her side to listen to the call.

_"He's fine. Just fine. He's got a couple bruises and a slight sprain on his ankle. He'll be fine."_

"What exactly happened? I mean, how could somebody just back out like that? Without even checking."

_"There was a commotion. A… mountain lion was running through the parking lot after the conferences were over."_

"Oh, my God. Is everyone okay?" she asked wondering if it was really a mountain lion or something else.

_"Everyone's fine, Spencer. I promise. But the sheriff is complaining about being cooped up at the hospital and he wants to go home. He can't drive, though, so we need you or Stiles to come and get him."_

"We're on our way, Mrs. McCall." Stiles said, taking the phone and hanging up before Spencer could respond in her own manner. Stiles ran to the door and grabbed his keys.

"Stiles, stop!" Spencer called, following after him. He didn't listen as he moved to the driver's side of the Jeep. "Stiles!" she shouted at him. She caught the door before he could close it. "Stiles, listen to me." She ordered, grabbing his hands in hers. "You can't drive. You're too all over the place. Your dad is fine. Just a sprain. He's okay." she reassured him. "Move over. I'll drive." Stiles sighed, but nodded moving into the passenger seat. She drove quickly, but monitored the speed limits. As soon as they arrived to the entrance of emergency care, Stiles threw himself out of the car. Spencer quickly followed him into the sliding doors.

"Dad?" Stiles called out, looking for his father. He walked up to the desk and asked where his father was. The nurse pointed us in the direction. They walked quickly to the room. "Dad?" he called again. The sheriff was sitting in a wheel chair in the middle of the room.

"It's about time." The sheriff complained. "I've been trying to go home for almost an hour."

Spencer laughed. "I told you he was fine. I mean, he's still complaining what could be worse than that?"

~~~~~

The next Monday, Stiles and Spencer were sitting in their first class. They had arrived early, since they had to drop the sheriff off at the station. He still wasn't allowed to drive yet. Spencer was focusing on her hearing with her eyes closed. She was just practicing, not looking for anything important. Deaton told her the previous night that she should start using it in public places to see if she could pinpoint certain things. Mostly all she heard was gossiping girls and guys congratulating their friend on their most recent conquest over the weekend. Then she heard Scott. He was talking to himself, saying that he had to stay away from Allison and Jackson. Spencer furrowed her brow. Stiles watched her from the seat next to her. He tapped her arm to get her attention.

"What's going on?" He asked her. She opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Nothing." She said. "Scott's here."

"Great." He said, sarcastically, leaning back in his chair.

Spencer listened closely again, to find where he was in the school. "He's coming." Then she counted down from five. He walked in the door when she hit zero. Spencer smiled at her accuracy. However, Stiles wasn't as happy to see their other friend. He rolled his eyes and just stared at the board. Scott moved to the seat behind Stiles.

As he passed, he spoke to Spencer. "Hey, Spencer." He said, nicely.

"Scott." She said, her eyes not leaving her page. Scott sighed and continued to the desk.

"I take it you two still aren't talking to me." When we didn't answer Scott sighed. "Can you at least tell me if your dad is okay? I mean, it's just a bruise, right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big?"

"He's got a sprain." Spencer stressed. "That's kinda big."

"You know I feel really bad about it, right?" Stiles didn't answer him. "Okay." He sighed. "What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and… That I went to Derek for help?" Spencer turned to look at Scott. Scott shrugged his shoulders.

Stiles groaned. "If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him. But obviously I'm not talking to you."

"We don't need him." Spencer insisted. "Stay away from him." The school bell rang signaling the beginning of class. Spencer turned to Stiles and watched as he fidgeted in his seat. He probably couldn't stop thinking about why Scott would go to Derek. He looked to Spencer and as if she knew what he was asking, she shrugged.

Stiles sighed. "What did he say?" Stiles and Spencer turned in their seats to look at Scott. The teacher cleared his throat at the front of the classroom.

"After class." Spencer whispered as they turned to look in the right direction. The three of them trudged through class. Spencer and Stiles had conversations of their own about their work, Scott only listened in since he knew that he still wasn't on good terms with either of them. He did notice how Spencer's heart skipped a beat every time that Stiles would say her name or tap her arm when he had a question. Spencer felt Scott's gaze on her so she turned around. "Stop it." She said, under her breath so that Stiles couldn't hear. Scott smiled, widely.

When class was over, the three filed out of the classroom together, Scott quickly filling them in on what Derek wanted Scott to do and focus on.

"He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?" Stiles asked Scott. Stiles had his hand wrapped around Spencer's and the three walked in a line down the hallway.

"Yeah." Scott said.

"Scott, there's no reason for that. You don't see me getting angry every time I want to listen in on something." Spencer pointed out.

"And, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time _you_ do that, you try to kill someone, and that's someone's usually me or Spencer."

"I know." Scott stressed. "That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."

"Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know. I don't think he does either."

"What if we can teach you?" Spencer asked, looking to Stiles, curiously.

"What? How are you gonna teach me?"

"Well, apparently, I half-turn." The boys looked at her, completely confused. She sighed. "A while back, Derek called me a kid and it got me really mad. I slapped him. And scratched him." She paused. "With my claws."

"Are you kidding?" Stiles laughed.

"Stiles, it's not funny. I seriously had claws. They changed before my eyes and I nearly had a heart attack."

"How is that going to help him? You just said that you were angry when it happened. That's what we're trying to avoid."

"Well, if you wouldn't laugh at me, I would be able to explain." She sent a glare at Stiles, who shut his mouth. "Okay, Scott, you know me. Calm, cool and collected Spencer, right?" he nodded. "Well, what if I wasn't always like that? I kind of remember when I was really little, I would get mad and break things. Remember, Stiles?"

Stiles thought. "Yeah, come to think of it."

"Well, just after all of that happened, my dad starting telling me that there was never anything in this entire world that I would need to get that angry over. So, instead of thinking how angry I was, I was supposed to think of something that made me happy, so that my mood would turn around, and I'd be back to being happy."

"Genius." Stiles said, leaning over to kiss Spencer's temple. "When are you seeing him again?"

"He just told me not to talk about it. Just act normal and get through the day." Scott responded.

"When, Scott?" Spencer repeated Stiles' question.

"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."

"After work." Stiles reiterated. Scott nodded. "All right, well, that gives us till the end of the school day then."

"To do what?"

"To teach you, Scott." Spencer answered. "We're gonna teach you to control your anger instead of unleash it."

~~~~~

Later the group was sitting in the lunch room, picking at their almost uneatable lunches. Scott was sitting across from Stiles and Spencer, hiding behind one of Stiles' textbooks. Stiles rolled his eyes and put his hand on top of the book to tilt it down a little.

"I think the book's making it more obvious." He admitted. He looked behind him, where Allison was sitting reading a book. "Besides, she's reading anyway." Scott thought about taking the book down, but decided against it.

"Scott, I'm not gonna talk to a textbook all lunch period." Spencer complained, reaching for the book, but he only held it tighter. She groaned when he wouldn't budge.

"Did you come up with a plan yet?" Scott asked.

"I think so." Stiles answered, before taking a bite of his apple.

"Does that mean that you guys don't hate me now?"

"You disappeared off the planet with no notice, and Pops got hurt in that time, on your watch. Of course we're still mad at you." Spencer said.

"Your crap is so far into our lives that we can't just sit by and watch. We have to do something about it. Plus, I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."

"Okay, yeah. You teach me." Scott said.

"Yeah, I'll be your Yoda." Stiles redefined.

"Yeah, you be my Yoda."

"Your Yoda, I will be." Stiles said, using his terrible Yoda voice. Spencer snickered at its ridiculousness. "I said it backwards like – "

"Yeah, I know." Scott assured.

"Alright, you know what," Stiles started when Scott didn't like his humor. "I definitely still hate you. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah." Stiles grabbed his things tossing them in his backpack, making sure that he had a hold on his apple and Spencer's arm. She was carried away without even finishing her lunch. She managed to grab her fork and bowl of fruit salad before she was whisked away.

* * *

**Thanks a bunch for reading. Sorry for the author's note at the beginning, but I wanted to be clear.**

**You guys are super lucky to be getting two chapters in two days. That's a big change from what's it's used to being, huh? Since the new season started I've been watching Teen Wolf like crazy and I'm getting all this crazy inspiration on what's going to happen on Season 1, even stuff already for Season 3, since I'm hoping to be still writing this until then. I just know that there's a lot in between now and then. So I'm writing as fast as my fingers will take me.**

Hope you liked it! Comment if you did because I freaking love comments.

:)3


	28. T W E N T Y - S E V E N

Free period finally came and Spencer let out a deep breath. Just two more classes left of the day and then she was headed off to work with Scott. Granted, work wasn't _as exciting_ with Scott there since she wasn't testing her abilities, but she still had a lot of fun with all the animals around. She had her backpack, full of her homework for the night, hanging off of her shoulder as she was lead out to the lacrosse field by Stiles. He was carrying a gym bag and his lacrosse stick. She sat down on the bench the players would normally sit on, next to Stiles who was digging through the bag. He pulled out a black band and a cell phone.

"Now, put this on." He said, handing the band to Scott. Spencer pulled out her chemistry homework to start working on it.

Scott held it in his hand. "Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" he asked.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I borrowed it."

"Stole it." Spencer said under her breath, smirking at her friend.

"Temporarily misappropriated." Stiles rephrased. "Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day."

"Isn't that Coach's phone?" Scott asked, referencing the phone that he only half-recognized.

"That, I stole." Stiles admitted.

"Why?"

Spencer sighed. "Scott, when you wolf-out, your heart rate rises. When you're in practice or a game, when you're angry and, I bet, it's even happened when you were with Allison. If you can learn to keep control of your heart rate, you can control your shift."

"Like the Incredible Hulk." Scott pointed out. Spencer sighed and rolled her eyes, but Stiles thought differently of the comparison.

"Kind of like the Incredible Hulk!" Stiles said.

"No, I'm the Incredible Hulk."

"Would you just shut up and put the strap on?" Scott pulled the strap around his torso an clasped the ends together. Stiles reached back into the bag and pulled out a roll of duct tape. "This is where it gets kinky." Stiles joked. Spencer rolled her eyes and returned to her homework. Stiles pulled Scott's hands behind his back, and taped them together.

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period." Scott told Stiles.

Stiles looked at him, turned his head to Spencer, and then back to Scott. "You think I wanted to do this?" Scott only shrugged his shoulders. Stiles grabbed his bag and lacrosse stick and stepped a few paces away from Scott. "Alright. You ready?" Stiles called.

"No." Scott said.

"Remember, don't get angry." Stiles state. Stiles set the bag down and pushed a button on Coach Finstock's phone.

Scott sighed. "I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea." Stiles quickly rolled a ball into the stick's pocket and sent it flying in Scott's direction, making him groan on impact. Spencer and Stiles laughed as Stiles tried again. The next ball hit Scott right under his collar bone. He winced away.

"Awh, come on, now, Scott." Spencer called. "I'm sure that you can take it." She cheered. "Just don't get angry."

"Okay, that one kinda hurt." Scott told his friends.

"Quiet." Stiles ordered, queuing up another ball. "You're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, alright? About staying calm." Stiles launched another one and Scott starting talking to himself, saying to keep calm. Spencer did her best not to pay attention to the scene in front of her. She wanted to get her homework so she didn't have to stay up late doing it. She did, however, focus her hearing so she could hear the phone beeping as Scott's heart rate went up.

"Ah! Son of a bitch!" Scott shouted as one hit him in a more sensitive spot.

"You know what?" Stiles asked. "I think my aim is actually improving." Spencer laughed at this, but kept her eyes down.

"Wonder why?" Scott snipped.

"None of that, Scott." Spencer called. Stiles continued to pummel Scott, straying away from taking a break.

"Stop. Just wait." Scott called. "Wait, hold on!" But Stiles only threw another ball. Scott doubled over taking deep breaths.

Spencer who was focused on the phone's beeping, became worried when the beeping sped up. She pushed her book off her lap to the side slowly. "Stiles…" she warned. He looked down at the phone. Scott was still groaning when Spencer joined Stiles, hunched over his bag.

"Scott?" Stiles called, motioning with his arm for Spencer to stand back.

"Oh, like you're gonna be able to hold him off…" Spencer said sarcastically.

"I have before." He pointed out. Spencer nodded, realizing this was truth. Scott pulled his arms out of the tape and slammed them on the ground. He was groaning, still, and breathing heavily.

"Scott, it's okay." Spencer whispered, hoping it would help him. Stiles stopped her from saying anything thing else. He had to do this on his own. His heartbeat slowed down and Stiles and Spencer walked towards him. His breath slowed along with the beeping on the phone.

"Scott." Stiles said, reaching for him. "You started to change."

"From anger." Scott responded. "But it was more than that. It was like, the angrier I got…"

"The stronger you felt." Spencer finished. Scott and Stiles looked at her shocked. "I know how that is. From your feelings and personal experience."

"So it is anger, then?" Stiles asked.

"Most of it." Spencer replied, nodding. "Derek's right."

Scott sighed, defeated. "I can't be around Allison."

"Honestly, that's probably a good thing." Spencer admitted, under her breath. Stiles hit her arm lightly, telling her to back off.

"Just because she makes you happy?" Stiles asked him.

"No, because she makes me weak." Scott admitted.

Spencer sighed. "I think this is the perfect time to take a break, huh?" she asked, standing. Stiles nodded, helping Scott back to his feet.

"I gotta drop this back off at the locker room." Stiles gestured to his bag.

"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up." Spencer told him.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I got a couple more problems I wanna do really quick."

"Alright." Stiles said, leaning over and giving Spencer a quick kiss on her cheek. She blushed after the boys turned away. Scott walked with his friend back to the locker room.

"So that's a thing again?" Scott asked his friend.

"I'm working on it." Stiles informed. "We're working on it."

"Well, at least you have that. I can't be anywhere near Allison."

"Just stay away from her for a few days. You can do that." Stiles encouraged. "I mean, Spencer and I were apart for a few days. You don't see me whining about it."

"But you did." Scott corrected. "She was with Derek and you were freaking out every second." Stiles shot him a look as he opened the locker room door. Scott sighed. "So do I stay away from her for a few days, or is it forever?"

"You know, this whole "women make you weak" thing is a little too Spartan warrior for me. Look at it this way: Sp – "

"If you compare my love life to your and Spencer again, I just might punch you in the face."

"Okay…" Stiles said, slowly. "You're still learning, Scott."

"Yeah, but you've seen Derek. I mean, the guy's totally alone since Spencer decided he wasn't worth her time. What if I can, like, never be around Allison again?"

"Spencer didn't ditch him because he was gonna kill her. She ditched because he was a jerk. You're not a jerk. You've just got to get in control. You're not gonna end up like Derek, alright? We'll figure it out. Okay?" Scott shook his head, not agreeing. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Scott pushed away from the lockers. "Something smells terrible in here, anyway." He said, picking up his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder.

"Really? In a boys' locker room?" Stiles asked, sarcastically. "That doesn't make any sense at all.

"No, it's like something's rotting or dying." Scott modified, as he pushed open the door to the locker room. Spencer was leaning against the wall next to the door. She jerked back when the door flew open.

"Oh, God! What is that?" she exclaimed, plugging her nose shut. Scott and Stiles shrugged. "So, Econ, right?" she asked them. They nodded and headed off to Coach Finstock's room. Stiles had his arm around Spencer's shoulder's just like he always did. "Did you finish your paper?" Spencer asked Stiles.

Stiles nodded, but waved it off. "Finished it yesterday. Will you quit moping, Scott? I told you we'll figure it out."

"Stiles, leave him. Allison's in our next class. Let him focus on trying not to let his emotions affect him so much." Spencer advised. She looked to Scott. "What about you, Scott? How's your paper going?"

"It's…going." He sighed. "Not doing so well." The three entered the classroom. Spencer moved to the middle of the classroom sitting next to Scott. Stiles moved to sit behind her, but Scott hissed at him. "Stiles, sit behind me." Spencer noticed Allison come into the classroom and try to move in Scott's row. Only Stiles was too slow and Allison slammed her books down on the desk before Stiles could climb over it. Stiles let out a puff of air and sat in the seat behind Spencer. She looked to him, but shrugged her shoulders. It was out of their hands now.

"Hey." Allison said, to Scott.

"Hey." Scott said, back.

"I haven't seen you all day." Spencer rolled her eyes at Allison saying this. Spencer got bored trying to listen in so she turned around, crossed her arms over Stiles' desk, and laid her head down on them. Stiles did the same, facing her.

"What's up?" Stiles asked.

"Tired. No more late nights."

"We weren't even up late last night."

"I was. Couldn't sleep. It's getting really hard to sleep." Spencer sat up straight. "I mean, now that I know what's out there and I can't exactly defend myself yet. I used to be able to sleep with Derek there."

"Derek spent the night?" Stiles asked, quickly, sitting up in his desk. Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. "Right, doesn't matter." He said shaking his head. "I could come sleep with you."

"You could. But I don't wanna do that. I mean, I bet we're already testing the limits by living in the same house. I don't think Pops would be comfortable with us dating and sleeping together."

Stiles nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right." Spencer jumped at the sound of Coach slamming a textbook on his desk. She turned back to face the front.

"Let's settle down." Coach Finstock ordered. "Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading." Spencer raised her hand just a little bit. "Greenberg, put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. Garner, of course, you did. How about, uh…" he looked around the classroom, "McCall."

Scott was playing dumb. He looked up confused. "What?"

"The reading." Coach said, moving to sit on the edge of his desk at the front of the classroom.

"Last night's reading?"

"Nah, how about the uh, the reading of _The Gettysburg Address_?" Spencer couldn't help but snicker at this comment.

"What?"

"That's sarcasm." The coach told him. "You familiar with the term 'sarcasm,' McCall?"

"Very." Scott said, turning to look at his friends. Stiles and Spencer showed a winning smile, knowing that he knew it all from them.

"Did you do the reading or not?"

"Um…" Scott started, flipping through his book. Spencer groaned knowing what the answer was going to be. "I think I forgot."

"Nice work, McCall. It's not like you're not averaging a 'D' in this class. Come on, buddy." The coach begged. "You know I can't keep you on the team if you have a 'D'." Scott nodded, but Spencer started to hear the beeping of Coach's phone. Stiles was watching his heart rate. Spencer could feel the embarrassment and anger from Scott. Her breathing then became hard to control. She closed her eyes trying to focus on her own emotions instead of Scott's. She grabbed the edges of her desk hard until her knuckles turned white. "How about you summarize, uh, the previous night's reading?" Scott shook his head. He couldn't. "No?" The phone beeped faster. "How about the night before that?" Scott hung his head in shame. "How about you summarize anything you've ever read in your entire _life_."

"Scott," Spencer whispered, so only he could hear. Her voice was strained though. "Calm down. You're projecting."

"No? A blog? How about, uh, how about the back of a cereal box? No? Or the adults-only warning from your favorite website you visit every night? Anything? Thank you, McCall, thank you." Coach slammed his fist on the desk a couple times. Spencer jumped, and scratched the underside of her desktop, confirming her fears. Her claws were out. "Thank you, McCall! Thank you for extinguishing any last _flicker_ of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Next practice you can start with suicide runs." Suddenly the beeping slowed. "Unless that's too much reading." Spencer furrowed her brow as her breathing returning to normal. She relaxed her fingers which once again were normal. She sighed, turned around, and opened her eyes to look at Stiles. He jumped back a little bit, seeing her eyes. She furrowed her brow. He'd already seen Allison holding Scott's hand, knowing that's what calmed him down. "Everybody else, settle down." The coach continued with the lesson, Stiles barely looking in Spencer's direction, even when they were working on a couple questions together.

The class moved slowly for Spencer as she noticed how Stiles was basically avoiding her gaze. She sighed wondering what was wrong. When the bell rang, both of their things had already been packed up. Stiles jumped from his seat and grabbed Spencer's arm pulling her behind him. Spencer waved Scott along. He looked back to Allison and waved quickly before following after his friends.

"Stiles, what's going on?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he suggested, stopping at some lockers. She furrowed her brow, along with Scott. Both teenagers were completely confused. "Seriously?" he asked again.

"Stiles!" Spencer whispered. "What happened? Why are you treating me like I have the freaking plague?"

"Your eyes. They were yellow. Like Scott's."

"What?" she questioned, pulling out her phone to use it as a mirror.

"They aren't yellow now, but they were."

"Cool." She said, quietly, trying to imagine herself with the same golden eyes that Scott had.

"Cool?" Stiles questioned. "Not cool."

"Look, it's probably just because I felt him change. Triggering the change in me, like with the wolfsbane from Derek's sister's grave. It's Scott's connection with me. I feel him change, especially if he's projecting it."

"Sorry!" Scott said, defensively.

"Speaking of." Stiles said, wrapping an arm around Spencer's shoulders and pulling her along down the hall. Scott joined them on the other side of Stiles. "It's her."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"It's Allison. Remember what you told us about the night of the full moon? You were thinking 'bout her, right? About protecting her." Spencer and Scott were catching on, understanding what Scott was saying. They both nodded. "Remember the night of the first lacrosse game?"

"You heard her, Scott. Allison, you heard her talking to you, cheering you on." Spencer remembered.

"Yeah, I did." Scott said.

"Well, so that's what brought you back so that you could score. And then after the game in the locker room you didn't kill her. At least not like how you were trying to kill me." Scott glared at Stiles, wishing that he would get to the point. Stiles sighed. "She brings you back, is what I'm saying."

"No, but it's not always true." Scott admitted. "Because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her – "

"No," Stiles interrupted. "That's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?" Stiles said, purposefully tightening his grip around Spencer's shoulders. Spencer tried to hide her blush by scratching her nose. Stiles looked pointedly at his wolfy friend. "You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Scott confessed, laughing. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Stiles told him. "Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand that was different, okay?"

"What if she doesn't make you weak?" Spencer submitted. "I think she actually gives you control. Derek used to say something about, uh, an anchor."

"You mean because I love her." Scott said. Spencer smiled, but Stiles moved on as if he hadn't said anything.

"Exactly." He said.

"Did I just say that?" Scott asked himself.

"Yes, you just said that."

"I love her." Scott repeated.

"That's great. Now, moving on…" Stiles suggested.

"Stiles, stop." Spencer ordered. "The boy just found his first love." She smiled at her friend.

"I think I'm totally in love with her." Scott told Stiles, trying to get him on his side.

"And that's beautiful." Stiles said, almost sarcastically. "Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time."

"Yeah, sorry." Scott said, as Stiles took him out of his realization. Spencer was happy for her friend. She was curious as to what exactly he was feeling, wondering if she had felt the feeling herself. She tried honing in on his emotions, but it tired her out. She hadn't gotten that far yet. She sighed, defeated. Scott looked to her for a second almost as if he had felt her trying to grab ahold of his emotions. Spencer shook her head slightly. Scott looked to Stiles. "So what do I do?"

Stiles sighed, a little frustrated. "I don't know." He paused. "Yet." He spun himself in a circle taking in his surroundings hoping that it would give him some sort of idea. He slowed facing his friends again.

"Oh, no. You're getting an idea, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Stiles said, confidently.

"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?"

"Maybe." Stiles admitted.

"Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Alright, boys, this is where we part. As much as I'd love to see Scott get hurt again, I really don't want to get into any trouble. Plus, I still got some homework to get to."

Stiles nodded and leaned forward kissing her slowly. Spencer blushed, realizing that Scott was just staring at them and pulled away as far as Stiles would let her. "I'll see you after work." Stiles said to her, as if he didn't care Scott was there. She nodded, slowly and turned the opposite way down the hall to her locker.


	29. T W E N T Y - E I G H T

Spencer walked through the hall keeping to herself. She was walking to her locker before she had to brace herself and walk into Mr. Harris's room to ask for some extra credit work. Not that her chemistry grade was bad, but after what happened a few weeks ago, she's been focusing more on Mr. Harris and what he's going to do next, rather than her work. Spencer knew that she should wait for Stiles to go with her, but he was working with Scott, and at this point, that was more important. They wouldn't be able to deal with Scott if he couldn't control himself. His whining about not being able to see Allison was already bad enough.

Spencer took a deep breath, before turning into the chemistry lab. There was another student in the room with their teacher and she let out a sigh of relief. He was tall, but slouched over as he spoke with Harris. His dark blond hair was curly and stuck up in certain places.

"Th – there has to be something that I can do." The student begged. "I n – need a higher grade." Spencer bit her lip as she felt like she was interrupting a conversation that probably shouldn't be overheard.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lahey, but you should have thought of that earlier when you were failing my tests." Harris responded. Spencer shifted her bag further on her shoulder, since it was falling off. Her car keys jostled inside, making a noise. Both men looked in her direction, surprised to see another person standing there.

"I – I'm sorry, for disturbing, Mr. Harris. I can come back later." She said. The boy's face turned to a beet red.

"Absolutely not. What can I do for you, Spencer?"

"I was just wondering if I could get some extra credit. But apparently that's not an option." She said, gesturing to the boy. "I was just trying for a 4.0 and this is my lowest grade." Harris huffed in his chair. He couldn't play favorites and he wanted to give her some extra credit.

Harris sighed. "Alright. Here's what we'll do. If you can get Mr. Lahey's grade up a couple letters, I can boost your grade."

The boy moved to disagree, but Spencer smiled and answered for him. "Consider it done." She said, confidently. She waved the boy along. He hesitated looking to Harris for a second.

"Mr. Lahey, is this unacceptable? I assure you, Spencer is very smart and will help you study. If you can make a 'B' or higher on your next test, it will significantly impact your grade."

"No, it's just – " the student started.

"Perfect." Spencer assured their teacher. She walked over to the boy and grabbed his arm, pulling him from the classroom. "Thanks, Mr. Harris." She called as they exited. She let out a breath when they were out of sight and earshot.

"Y – you don't have to help me. I can do it myself."

"But, see that's where the problem is, Mr. Lahey."

"Isaac." He corrected.

"Isaac. I like that name." she said, with a smile. Isaac blushed a little. "If I let you study on your own, and you keep your grades going the way they are, there's no way that you'll get above a 'B' on the next test. That results in me not getting my grade up. So _you're_ really doing _me_ a favor." Isaac was suddenly aware that she was still holding his arm as they were stopped in the hallway. He looked down to it. "Oh, sorry." She said, letting go. "So when can we start?"

"Well, I have to work tonight." Isaac said, shyly.

"Great, me too. What about tomorrow night?"

"I, uh, work then, too."

"Sounds to me like you're just avoiding the study session. Do I smell or something?" she asked.

"No." Isaac said, suddenly. "No, I mean, you smell good. Not bad." He blushed again.

"You don't really spend a lot of time around girls, do you?" Spencer asked. Isaac shrugged. "Well, where do you work?"

"Over at the graveyard. Groundskeeper."

"Creepy." Spencer joked. "Well, I'm sure we could still study. Or I could help you get your stuff done and then we can have the rest of the time to study." Spencer reached into her bag and ripped a piece of paper out of one of her notebooks. Isaac watched as she scribbled something down on it. "Well, Isaac." She handed him the slip of paper. He noticed that a phone number was written on it. "This is my number. Call me tomorrow, but know that even if you don't, I will wait all night at the graveyard if I have to." Isaac nodded, taking the paper. As he reached for it, his sleeve rolled up a little bit, showing his watch. He looked at it, and his eyes widened when he noticed the time.

"Oh, no." he said, as he turned and scurried down the hallway.

"Isaac?" Spencer called, running down the hall to catch up to him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm gonna be late. I'll never make it across town."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Just take back roads. Main roads tend to have traffic."

"I'm on my bike." He turned to her, as he kept running. She swore he heard him mumble something about a freezer. She sighed.

"Isaac, look. I'll give you a ride, alright?" Isaac stopped and turned to face her abruptly, making Spencer crash herself into him. "Sorry." He nodded. "We can put your bike in the back of my truck. I'll drive you."

"Are you sure?"

Spencer nodded. "Sure. The animal clinic is that way anyway. I don't mind." She said, placing an hand on his upper arm to comfort and reassure him. Spencer swore that he showed a little smile when he nodded. Spencer led him out to her truck after the got her bike. She noticed Stiles and Scott on the side of the school. Stiles was walking alongside a car with his keys against it. "Oh, my god." She said, aloud.

"What?" Isaac questioned, after his bike was safe in the back of her truck. He tried to follow her line of sight, but she turned away too quickly. "Everything okay?"

Spencer nodded. "C'mon let's go."

~~~~~

Spencer drover herself to the animal clinic after dropping Isaac off. When she got there, she noticed that Derek's car was sitting in the parking lot. She furrowed her brow and talked aloud to herself. "What is he doing here?" she groaned. She quickly parked her truck and pushed herself out of it and into the clinic. When she got to the back examination room she saw Deaton sitting in a chair passed out, tied up with a gash on his face. "Derek, what the hell are you doing?!" she screamed at him and she hurriedly went to check out the marks on the doctor's face.

"He knows something."

"He doesn't know _anything_." She stressed, lying through her teeth and controlling her heart rate, just like Deaton taught her to. He always told her not to give up his secret to anyone. That's why Scott and Stiles didn't know about her lessons with him. "He's just a vet." She said, standing up in front of Derek. Even though he towered over her, she held her ground, defending her boss, who was really more like a friend. "You're just too worried about your own ass to care what he has to say. I bet he told you he didn't know anything."

"Yeah, and he _lied_. I listened to his heartbeat, Spencer. He's either the alpha or he knows who is."

"He is _not_ the alpha, Derek! Why don't you ever listen to me?!" Derek opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he groaned grabbed the material he had used to tied Deaton's hands together and pushed Spencer to the ground. "Derek, stop! What are you doing?" he tied her hands together behind her and then moved to her legs. She didn't go without a fight though as she managed to kick him a few times in the stomach. He wouldn't stop though. She was left on the floor in a tangled mess.

"Oh, God." Deaton gasped, taking in his surroundings.

"Doctor Deaton?" Spencer questioned, from the corner.

"Spencer, get out of here." He told her.

"Well, I'd love to, but I'm a little tied up right now. No thanks to this psychopath."

"Are you protecting someone?" Derek asked, ignoring the snarky comment from Spencer.

"Alright." Deaton struggled, still trying to get his breath to normal. "The, uh, key to the drug locker is in my pocket."

"I don't want drugs." Derek said, grabbing Deaton at the neck, and leaning down to get in his face. "I want to know why you're lying."

Deaton was either really good at playing scared or he was scared and didn't know who the alpha was. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"See, Derek." Spencer said. "He doesn't know. Can you just let him go, please. Let me go. You're better than this, Derek." She begged. Derek glared at her and spun the chair around. He lifted it, and the man in the chair, up into the air, bringing it to Derek's own eye level.

"What are you doing to me?" Deaton cried. "What do you want?"

"Derek, let him go!" Spencer shouted, but he didn't listen.

"I want to know who you are or who you're protecting."

Spencer heard footsteps enter the clinic. She looked towards the entrance to see Scott. "What are you doing?!" he shouted.

Spencer sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god."

"Scott, get out of here!" Deaton called over his shoulder. Derek slammed the chair back to the ground and punched Deaton in the face, knocking him out.

"Stop!" Scott shouted. "Stop!"

"Look, when he's conscious, he can keep himself from healing, but unconscious he can't." Derek shouted at Scott.

"Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?"

"You wanna know what the spiral means, Scott? It's our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied."

"You think he's the alpha?" Scott questioned, bewildered.

"We're about to find out." Derek said, nodding. He brought his claws out and his hand up as he moved to swipe Deaton across the face. Scott though, surprising, to both Derek and Spencer, seemed to control his wolf and shift quickly, stopping the older man. Scott growled and pushed Derek's hand away. Derek seemed almost scared as he backed away from Scott. Scott looked down at his hand noticing that he was wolfed-out, he then focused on it and changed back.

Scott looked up from under his lashes. "Hit him again, and then you'll see me get angry." Scott warned. Scott quickly moved passed Derek and over to Spencer. He used his nails to untie her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she was able to move her wrists again.

"How did you learn to do that?"

"Keyed a guy's car."

"Yeah, saw that. Wasn't exactly smart, was it?"

"Not really." Scott agreed, pulling Spencer to her feet. Scott walked over to Deaton to start cleaning up his face. Spencer looked at her hand and felt the feeling that Scott had during Econ. She channeled it and forced it out. She checked her hands, seeing claws and walked in front of Derek to slap him across the face, leaving a few slash marks.

"If you ever tie me up again, I will make sure that it is the last thing that you do." She threatened.

Derek scoffed. "What are you gonna do? Scratch me to death?"

"You have no idea of the amount of spells that I know that could have you drop like a fly." She said, between her teeth. Derek swallowed nothing seeming a little scared, but nodded anyway. Spencer pulled herself onto the metal table to sit down. Derek was pacing behind her as Scott continued to clean up Deaton's face.

Derek huffed and walked to Scott's side. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too." Spencer chimed.

Scott groaned. "Just give me an hour."

"Then what?"

Scott looked up to Derek and then to Spencer. He sighed. "Meet us at the school. In the parking lot." Derek shook his head and let the room.

Spencer joined Scott at his side. "What are we gonna do at the school?"

~~~~~

After driving to Stiles' house to pick him up, since they wouldn't dare leave him out of this (he would hate them forever), all three drove to the school in Stiles' Jeep. Spencer wasn't exactly excited about being at the school this late at night. It was creepy since no one was there, but things needed to be cleared up quickly before Deaton's secret got out. Spencer got out of the Jeep and shoved her hands in her jean's pockets. The three convened at the back of the Jeep.

"This is a terrible idea." Stiles told Scott.

"Yeah, I know." Scott responded.

"But we're still gonna do it?"

"Can you think of something better?"

"Well, personally, I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away." Stiles said sarcastically.

"It's the only way to clear Deaton's name. He's not the alpha." Spencer insisted.

"Just make sure that we can get inside." Scott ordered. Stiles opened his back hatch and pulled out some bolt cutters as Derek pulled up in his Camaro. Stiles looked to Spencer when he saw her roll her eyes.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Hate Derek." She grumbled. Stiles nodded with a smile.

"Good." He admitted.

"Where's my boss?" Scott asked Derek when he climbed out of his car.

"He's in the back." Derek said, as if it were obvious. He opened the passenger side door to show the teenagers.

Stiles scoffed. "Oh, he looks comfortable." Scott pat Stiles on the arm to hurry him into the school. Spencer didn't notice and looked shocked as the two were walking into the school leaving her alone with Derek.

Derek looked from them to Spencer, and back again. "Hey, where are you going?" he questioned, not wanting to be left alone with Spencer.

"You said I was linked with the alpha." Scott said, thinking that was a good enough explanation as to why he was leaving the two of them alone. "I'm gonna see if you're right."

"Uh…" Spencer started, wondering what she was supposed to do.

"Stay here." Stiles told her. "Watch him." Spencer narrowed her eyes at her friend, not really wanting to listen. "We'll be right back." He assured as he turned to follow Scott into the school. Spencer groaned and watched them break into the school before going to sit on the bumper of the Jeep. She wasn't looking at Derek or his car, but sending glares all around her. She was trying to think of any spell that could be useful to her in case Derek decided to try something more with Deaton.

"If it matters – " Derek started but he was interrupted by Spencer.

"It doesn't." Spencer barked, sending a hurtful glare in Derek's direction.

"I'm sorry." He continued anyway. "I didn't want you getting in my way."

"No, I suppose you didn't. Seeing as that how it always is. If something is in your way you just toss it out like it doesn't mean a thing to you."

Derek sighed and moved to lean on the back of the Jeep next to Spencer. "This isn't all about you, you know?"

"It never was."

"It was. Before tonight. Everything was keeping you safe."

"Shut up, Derek." Spencer sneered, not believing him. Everything was always about saving his own ass. The two sat in silence, Spencer channeling the emotions from class earlier just in case Derek decided she wasn't needed. Suddenly, there was a shrill noise coming from the intercom of the school. Spencer realized that this was Scott attempting to howl.

"You've got to be kidding me." Derek said, aloud. Spencer brought her hand up to her mouth to quiet her laughter. Derek looked down at her with a smirk, seeing her break down that angry wall, if only for a moment. A couple minutes later, there was another howl. Only this one sounded more real. It frightened Spencer a little bit and she wrapped her arms around herself. Derek stood up straight from against the car and was alert, looking around. He walked passed Spencer and looked behind them at the school. Spencer could almost feel the ground shaking underneath her.

Scott and Stiles came out minutes later, with broad smiles on their faces. Spencer shook her head at her friends but joined Stiles by his side anyway.

"I'm gonna kill both of you." Derek threatened, pointing in their direction. "What the hell was that?" he asked. "What are you trying to do? Attract the entire state to the school?"

"Hate to say this but Derek's right. That was kinda a dumb move."

"Sorry." Scott apologized. "I didn't know it would be that loud."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed, wrapping an arm around Spencer's shoulders. "it was loud. And it was _awesome_." He said, in a sing-song tone.

"Shut up." Derek ordered.

"Don't be such a sour wolf." Stiles told Derek. Scott put his hand on Stiles' arm to stop him from antagonizing Derek.

"What did you do with him?" Scott asked, looking into Derek's car.

"What?" Derek questioned. Derek turned around to look into his car. Deaton was gone. "I didn't do anything."

"He didn't. We were both right here." Spencer defended, looking at her two friends. She turned back when she heard a deep growl. She turned around just in time to see a large wolf-like creature impale Derek with his own set of claws. "Derek!" she shouted, stepping forward, but Scott pulled her back. Derek was lifted into the air and blood spurted from his mouth. "No!" Spencer screamed, when Scott picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running into the school. Inside the school, Scott placed her on the ground and helped Stiles hold the door closed. Spencer didn't realize it until now, but she was crying. She stood up and walked to the door, looking out the window. "He's gone."

* * *

**Not as quick as the last few updates, but it's quicker than it normally is. I pulled all of this from my brain today, in light of the new episode tonight. Hope you all have a great Moonday!**

Thanks to **_claddagh23, ShesNotAfraid1D29, and raven_**** for being my most recent reviews. You guys are awesome.**

Next chapter is the beginning of Night School, which I have been very excited to write, so hopefully it's as good as i'm planning it to be.

:)3


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